The RS2477 Threat

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GOVERNOR OWENS ENDORSES EXTREME APPROACH

NEWS

On June 6, 2003,  Colorado’s Governor  secretly moved to obtain an agreement with the Department of the Interior that could ease the granting of right-of-ways to hiking trails and cow-paths through National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and wilderness lands.

• Read a June 20 Rocky Mountain News article about how the Park Service is trying to stand up to Governor Owens's plan that could put bulldozers in Parks.

• Read a front -page story from the July 27 Denver Post  describing Moffat County's assertions of 'constructed highways' where there are none.

GOVERNOR OWENS’S ‘PAVE-THE-PARKS’ PLAN

• Read Gov. Bill Owens letter of April 22 to Gov. Mike Leavitt stating that the State of Colorado doesn't want to be bound by the Memorandum of Understanding reached between Utah and the Department of Interior, presumably because that loophole-filled agreement is too restrictive for Colorado.

• Read Gov. Owens letter of April 22 to Secretary Norton, which is a cover letter submitting the April 22 letter to Gov. Leavitt, and seeking a “solution” to the RS 2477 issue in Colorado.

• Read Colorado Department of Natural Resource Director Greg Walcher’s letter of May 15 to Secretary Norton, demanding that any deal between the Interior Department and Colorado permit the State to claim rights-of-way through National Parks, and demanding exemptions from federal environmental permitting requirements when the State seeks to turn hiking trails and cow-paths into 2-lane highways.

• The Assistant Secretary of Interior responded to Gov. Owens's letter stating on July 9 that the Department "looks forward ... to develop[ing] an R.S. 2477 agreement ... for Colorado."

• Now that his secret plan is out in the open, Gov. Owens is promising a 'very public process' on rights-of-way. But he refuses to commit to protect Colorado's national parks, national monuments, national wildlife refuges, wilderness lands, or other special places. Read his August 12, 2003, response to one constituent in which he fails to say he'll fight to protect Colorado's--and America's--precious natural heritage.

• What a difference a governor makes! Read a September 19, 1994 then-Colorado Governor Roy Romer, supporting a reasonable interpretation of the 1866 mining law. In the letter, Gov. Romer expresses concern that proposed highways under the law "not be allowed to single-handedly defeat the designation of potential wilderness areas."

• Governor Owens and DNR Director Walcher didn't bother to consult with wildlife biologists in the state's Division of Wildlife before pushing their plan that could pave valuable wildlife habitat. See the September 16 Denver Post article.

MEDIA COMMENTARY

• Read a June 27, 2003, Grand Junction Sentinel editorial that calls for a public process, not a backroom deal, to address RS 2477 claims in Colorado.

• Read the Denver Post editorial and the Boulder Camera editorial criticizing Gov. Owens’ approach.

• Read a Joanne Ditmer column in the Denver Post which concludes that "the Owens-Walcher duo and others would pave over Paradise."

• Read a Kurt Kunkle op-ed from July 14, 2003, on his love affair with Dinosaur National Monument--and what Gov. Owens’s plan means for the area.

• The Denver Post on September 17, 2003, criticized Gov. Owens for placing destructive uses above wildlife protection, using his stance on RS 2477 as an example.

• Read a  Denver Post editorial of May 2, 2004, decrying abuse of RS 2477 and supporting Rep. Mark Udall's pending legislation (see below).

• Read a November 2004 article from Men's Journal listing Dinosaur National Monument as a place of "Endangered Beauty" that should be visited before it "vanishes" due in part to Moffat County's RS 2477 claims.

COLORADO’S REPRESENTATIVES RESPOND

• View Rep. Mark Udall’s June 3 response to Director Walcher’s letter, expressing “serious concerns” with Director Walcher’s approach.

• Read a June 16 letter from Rep. Diana DeGette in which she labels the Governor's approach to right-of-way claims in National Parks, National Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges and proposed wilderness areas "a radical construction that is clearly contrary to the broad support these lands [including ] enjoy in Colorado and across the nation."

• While Gov. Owens is pushing a state-wide solution to RS 2477, the Colorado State Senate has other ideas. In March 2004, it endorsed a resolution calling on Congress to craft a solution. Read the resolution and press about it.

• In 2005, both the Colorado House and Senate adopted a resolution seeking a national solution to the R.S. 2477 problem. Read the resolution and a press release.

CITIZENS FIGHT TO PROTECT COLORADO’S OPEN SPACE

• Read a June 4 press release from 21 conservation groups as well as a June 4 letter to Governor Owens from the same groups criticizing Director Walcher's proposal.

• Read a letter from the National Wildlife Federation urging the Governor to abandon his proposal, and describing the damaging effects of new roads.

• Read a June 6 letter from Republicans for Environmental Protection calling Gov. Owens approach "astonishing" and warning that it threatens "national treasures."

• Read a June 19 letter from the National Wildlife Refuge Association expressing concerning about the Governor's plan which could degrade Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge.

• Read a July 8 letter from Natural Resources Defense Council expressing alarm at Governor Owen's proposal.

• Read a July 14 letter from nearly 30 West Slope businesses opposing the Governor's plan.

• Read an August 18, 2003, letter from conservationists following up on a meeting with Natural Resource Director Greg Walcher, and laying out why the approach proposed by Director Walcher is deficient.

WHERE'S THE HIGHWAY?

Yampa River Canyon: Moffat County claims the Yampa River canyon (above) for more than 20 miles as a 'constructed highway.' County data gathered to support the assertion claims that the right-of-way was "built by Indians" in the 1800s and that it was used in winter to feed cattle when users of this alleged route "drove on ice." Images (c) 2003, Colorado Environmental Coalition.