Tag: Wilderness Workshop

Conservation groups today filed suit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for allegedly illegally approving thousands of oil and gas wells on federal land in western Colorado without conducting proper air-pollution analysis.

Environmental groups Friday praised the renewed efforts of U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, to protect more than 160,000 acres of public lands in Eagle and Summit counties as either wilderness or special management areas. The Wilderness Society, Colorado Environmental Coalition, Wilderness Workshop and Colorado Mountain Club – backers of the original Hidden Gems wilderness proposal – issued a statement of support after Polis on Friday announced plans to reintroduce his Eagle and Summit County Wilderness Preservation Act.

For a decade now, Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Denver has been fighting an uphill battle to vastly increase the acreage of Colorado’s public lands designated as wilderness, which limits development and prohibits wheeled travel. With Democrats in control of the White House and Congress, she may actually have a realistic shot this time around.