wild connections

Decision Time for Public Lands

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By Ron Sering As you drive west from Pueblo into the mountains, off to the northwest is a huge area of high desert. This includes the Gold Belt area and the Royal Gorge near Cañon City, as well as vast tracts of land along the U.S. Hwy. 50 corridor near Texas Creek, Cotopaxi and Howard. …

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Designating Lands with Wilderness Characteristics in Western Fremont County

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Table Mountain in eastern Bighorn Sheep Canyon. Courtesy of Wild Connections.

By Tyler Grimes

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Royal Gorge Field Office is currently updating its Resource Management Plan, which will determine how public lands in the area are managed for the next 20 to 30 years. Planning usually takes three to five years and this plan’s scoping began in 2015. Colorado Central covered the planning in the April 2015 issue, during the public commenting period. The agency then created a preliminary draft. Now, the BLM is asking for additional public comment to inform a preliminary draft plan based on preliminary alternatives. “The public lands in the area provide fantastic opportunities for locals and visitors alike,” said public affairs specialist Amber Iannella. “We are looking forward to hearing from the community about why this area is important to them, along with any potential concerns, to help us plan for the future.”

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Wild Connections: Mapping Potential Wilderness Areas

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By Tyler Grimes

Up the East Gulch from its confluence with the Arkansas River, a few miles east of Texas Creek in Fremont County, is Echo Canyon. Further up the gulch, Table Mountain looms to the southwest, past Bull Ridge.

Surrounding this mountain, gulch and canyon are 32,000 acres of roadless Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. The area is classified under the BLM’s Area of Critical Environment Concern (ACEC) because of its valued species: a BLM Instant Study Area protecting 17 native grasses: and its importance as a wildlife corridor for mountain lion, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, black bear, elk, mule deer, pronghorn, Gunnison prairie dog, wild turkey, peregrine falcon, Mexican spotted owl, great blue heron and bald eagle. Conservation Science Partners (CSP) recognizes 7,641 acres of Table Mountain as having “important ecologically based indicators of high biodiversity, resilience to climate change, and landscape connectivity.” The unit is deemed one of Central Colorado Wilderness Coalition’s (CCWC) top 11 areas worthy of wilderness designation. 

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