Public Lands Users, Recreationists and Conservationists Celebrate Introduction of the GORP Act

Homegrown conservation effort leads to bill for public lands in and around Gunnison County

September 26, 2024

GUNNISON, CO – Senator Michael Bennet today announced the introduction of the Gunnison Outdoor Resource Protection – or GORP – Act in the U.S. Senate. The GORP Act is the result of a community-driven initiative more than 10 years in the making that has garnered deep and widespread support in and around Gunnison County and across the state.

The legislation is designed to protect more than 700,000 acres of key public lands in and around Gunnison County. It was introduced a little more than two years after a draft bill was publicly released for consideration in 2022. The legislation is based on recommendations from a broad coalition of community stakeholders with a shared belief that public lands recreation, conservation, hunting, fishing and ranching form the fabric of Gunnison County culture, economy and way of life. Senator John Hickenlooper is co-sponsoring the bill.

Known as the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative (GPLI), the coalition of 10 public lands stakeholder groups – including winter and summer motorized recreationists, ranchers, mountain bikers, hunters, anglers, water managers and conservationists – was first conceived in 2012 on the banks of the Slate River. The GPLI’s vision was to proactively protect Gunnison County public lands while also contributing to a strong economy and supporting historic uses of public lands. As momentum toward legislation grew, so too did community engagement, generating input from an ever-broadening alliance of public lands stakeholders.

“Our groups have worked for nearly a decade to craft a vision for public lands in and around Gunnison County that will benefit our economy, environment, and quality of life into the future,” said members of the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative in a joint statement. “The GORP Act reflects the countless hours we spent working together and with communities around the Gunnison Basin. We are eager to see this thoughtful and well-vetted legislation signed into law.”  

The GORP Act will protect key portions of Gunnison County through a variety of public land management tools, including special designations focused on recreation, wildlife, scientific research and conservation. In addition to local community stakeholders, local leaders from some adjacent counties also participated in discussions to include public land conservation designations in areas within those counties that are geographically connected to the areas proposed in Gunnison County.

Along with the GPLI and the Board of County Commissioners from Gunnison County, the GORP Act has the formal support of Commissions from neighboring Pitkin, Hinsdale, Delta, Ouray and Saguache counties, along with multiple surrounding municipal governments, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and dozens of local businesses and organizations.

“For over a decade, Coloradans have come together at trailheads and kitchen tables to share their love for the spectacular landscape in and around Gunnison County,” Sen. Bennet said. “This bill proves that people with wide-ranging interests can forge compromise and develop a common vision to protect our public lands for future generations.”

The GORP Act seeks to find a balance between the recreational, cultural, natural, scientific, wilderness and scenic values of public lands, while also understanding that public lands and the health of the economy in and around Gunnison County are closely tied. The bill only applies to existing public lands, establishing designations that are tailored to the values of the community and prioritizing current uses and values on the landscape, be it recreation, conservation, science, watershed protection, grazing or wildlife habitat.

Recognizing the interests of the mountain biking and motorized recreation communities, designations in the GORP Act allow for potential new routes within appropriate areas and do not conflict with current, legally permitted roads, trails and riding areas. A small percentage of acreage is proposed for wilderness, while the bill also provides for forest, fire and vegetation management.

Since its genesis in 2012, Sen. Bennet has worked with Coloradans to develop the GORP Act to protect and enhance these important segments of the Gunnison Basin and Gunnison County, where some 70% of the land is publicly owned and managed by federal agencies. Today’s introduction of this carefully crafted, collaboratively-based proposal was greeted with resounding cheers from its many supporters, including longstanding GPLI members and more.

Statements of Support from GPLI Member Groups

“The Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association is pleased to support the GORP Act,” said Andy Spann, President of the Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association.  “Sustaining the rich ranching heritage in and around the Gunnison Basin was one of the key goals of the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative, and the result is balanced legislation that respects and protects the County’s rich ranching heritage, ensures that designated areas can continue to be used for grazing and historical ranching activities, and will help improve recreation management and watershed protection.”

“We thank Senator Bennet for his leadership on introducing legislation that was the result of a collaborative process with a variety of user groups who value the resources of the Gunnison Basin,” said Tony Prendergast, Colorado Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. “Passing the GORP Act would mean greater safeguards and management certainty for more than 700,000 acres of public lands in Colorado’s backcountry along with the fish and wildlife we pursue there.” 

“Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association (CMBA) works to balance recreation with conservation, minimizing the environmental impacts of overuse and mis-use, while also providing education and outreach to all users,” said David Ochs, Executive Director of Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association. “CBMBA created the Crested Butte Conservation Corps (CBCC) in 2017, a full-time seasonal trail care and stewardship crew, and we work closely alongside federal land agencies and managers to steward public lands. With Senator Bennet’s support and leadership of the GORP Act, we aim to work alongside federal agencies further still, to help steward the progressive and sensible protections and provisions of the GORP act. We believe the GORP Act provides for vital public lands health and sustainability, for generations to come.”

“Gunnison County Sno Trackers has worked for decades to support high quality snowmobiling opportunities on the incredible public lands in the Gunnison Basin region. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to participate in the collaborative Gunnison Public Lands Initiative (GPLI) since its inception,” said Bob Davison, President of the Gunnison County Sno Trackers. “The GORP Act reflects the GPLI's commitment to cooperation, open dialogue, compromise and respect, and the result is a balanced bill that will chart a future for the public lands in and around Gunnison County where world-class snowmobiling will continue to flourish.”

“The GORP Act is the result of years of local collaboration that has united communities across the region and the state to protect key public lands in and around the Gunnison Basin for clean water, wildlife, recreation, ranching, scientific research, wilderness and other benefits for generations to come,” said Scott Miller, Southwest Regional Director for The Wilderness Society. “The GORP Act embodies the communities’ long-term vision for sustaining the public lands in and around the Gunnison Basin and, in the process, sustaining the culture, economies and values of the communities themselves. As a member of the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative, The Wilderness Society is proud to support the inclusive community collaboration, compromise and public engagement that is reflected in the GORP Act.”

“GOATs have been a member of the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative throughout the multi-year collaborative process that led to the GORP Act,” said Geoff Heller, President of Gunnison Valley Alliance of OHV Trail Riders (GOATs). “Based on the principles of transparency, cooperation, and respect for the values of all stakeholders, every group at the table played a critical role in crafting what is truly a community-based proposal. We very much appreciate being included in the GPLI and the opportunities that provided GOATs to play a direct role in the development of the GORP Act. The result is a balanced bill that will allow motorized recreation and trail stewardship in and around the Gunnison Basin to flourish.”

“Our representatives have actively participated in Gunnison County's Public Lands Initiative since its inception, and we believe that the GORP Act represents balanced protection of the multiple values that our public lands offer, and in particular, our watersheds,” said Stacy McPhail, President of the Upper Gunnison Basin Water Conservancy District. “The explicit protection of valid existing rights is important to our water users, and we especially appreciate the District's inclusion as a collaborator in restoration activities – an endeavor the District has been diligently engaged in for many years. Thank you, Sen. Bennet, for your efforts on behalf of the citizens of Gunnison County.”

“Like many rural communities across the mountain west, the Gunnison Valley has witnessed a prolific increase in outdoor recreation and public land use over the last decade. Gunnison County has been proactive in dealing with the impacts from this increased use and works closely with our federal and state land managers, municipalities and local nonprofit organizations to manage and sustain our public lands. The GPLI working group is one such product of this proactive approach,” said Tim Kugler, Executive Director at Gunnison Trails. “We feel strongly that the GORP Act will protect and enhance our public lands here in Gunnison County while meeting the future needs of our community and the diverse stakeholders that worked tirelessly on this plan.”

“The GORP Act is the protection this community desires for our adjacent public lands in Gunnison County. In the process of drafting this legislation, two million acres of public lands have been analyzed and dissected for over a decade for factors like wildlife habitat, recreation, roads, trails, and grazing to create management areas and a map that everyone — from ranchers to snowmobilers to mountain bikers to conservationists — has agreed to. The GORP Act is how public lands protections should be created – the details were hashed out by local public lands users and passed up to Senator Bennet to draft into Federal legislation for the Federal public lands adjacent to our community,” said Jon Hare, Advocacy Director for High Country Conservation Advocates. “The GORP Act looks at the big picture to address critical wildlife areas that don’t currently have long-term protections in place; the Act designates Recreation Management Areas where large amounts of public use take place; the Act creates boundaries that allow land managers to do fuel mitigation work while protecting some of our best stands of forest; and the Act will cover the nooks and crannies of our public lands that might not have been considered in the past, yet are still in pristine condition and worthy of protection. The GORP Act does all this without really changing what we are currently allowed to do on our adjacent public lands. The GORP Act will be the protections this community needs moving forward to safeguard our public lands from threats now and into the future.” 

“The GORP Act is the product of 10 years of collaboration and negotiation. It reflects a local solution to how federal public lands should be managed for the benefit of anglers and hunters as well as ranchers, tribes, recreationists, and many others,” Colorado Trout Unlimited Executive Director David Nickum said. “Senator Bennet is to be commended for starting and leading this process. Once passed into law, this legislation will support responsible management of our public lands, as well as fishing and hunting, in the upper Gunnison River Basin for generations to come.”

Additional Statements of Support 

“Research on public lands is managed within the context of multiple use and depends on thoughtful land management that includes long-term protections for research sites and the landscapes on which they often depend,” said Ian Billick, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic. “Access to and protection of public lands for scientific research should remain a critical part of public land management in Gunnison County. The GORP Act will significantly advance that kind of thoughtful land management, including through the designation of the Rocky Mountain Scientific Research and Education Area, an area around RMBL that includes an extraordinary density of important long-term research sites.”

“The GORP Act is the product of years of collaboration among the members of the GPLI and of broad local and regional community and stakeholder input,” said Shoren Brown and Rebecca Gillis of the Conservation Alliance in a joint statement. “The result is legislation that will help sustain the incredible natural, recreational, and economic values of key federal public lands in and around the Gunnison Basin, one of America’s outdoor treasures. The GORP Act will, in turn, help to sustain and grow the local, regional, and national outdoor and related businesses that these public lands support.”

"Access Fund strongly supports the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act. This well-balanced legislation effectively integrates appropriate conservation protections with recreation management designations, ensuring high-quality outdoor experiences while preserving the regional economy,” said Erik Murdock, Access Fund Deputy Director. “We are grateful that Senator Bennet connected with the local climbing community and conducted extensive community engagement that is essential for effective and durable public land conservation and recreation management. The GORP Act speaks to Senator Bennet's commitment to conservation, recreation, and local economies." 

"The Western Slope Conservation Center strongly supports the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act," said Hannah Stevens, Executive Director of the Western Slope Conservation Center. "Critically, the North Fork Valley Watershed withdrawal in the GORP Act would protect significant portions of our watershed from oil and gas development. Protections for public lands in Gunnison County will further support clean water, wildlife habitat, and the natural resources our communities and local businesses depend upon."

“The GORP Act will help chart a sustainable course for key public lands, wildlife and communities in and around the Gunnison Basin and will help protect the region’s water, wildlife, recreation, and agriculture for generations to come,” said Will Roush, Executive Director of Wilderness Workshop. “This balanced bill is a result of strong collaboration among local stakeholders and incorporates broad community input. I’m especially excited that the GORP Act will add lands to the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness near Ashcroft and to the Raggeds Wilderness in the upper Crystal Valley, as well as create the new Star Peak Wilderness in the high country to the east of Pearl Pass.”

“American Whitewater is proud to support the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act,” said Kestrel Kunz of American Whitewater. “The GORP Act will achieve proper management and protection of public lands in Gunnison County, including highly cherished whitewater rivers that support a robust recreation economy and sustain life in the surrounding landscapes.”

"The Conservation Lands Foundation proudly supports the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act," said Ben Katz, Associate Program Director, Southwest, for CLF. "The GORP Act is the product of years of collaboration among local stakeholders and broad community input. The result is balanced legislation that will help sustain the incredible values of key federal public lands in and around Gunnison County for ranchers, wildlife, water users, recreationists, and communities today and for generations to come."

CONTACT:

Scott Willoughby

Scottrwilloughby@gmail.com

970-390-3676

Bennet, Hickenlooper Introduce Public Lands Legislation to Protect Gunnison Basin and Surrounding Regions

Office of Senator Michael Bennet

Official Press Release

September 26, 2024

Bill Shaped by Over a Decade of Deliberation with Western Colorado Leaders and Public Land Users

https://www.bennet.senate.gov/2024/09/26/press-releases-id-32137eb9-b6bd-4dcd-af5e-34e81ae7dc62/

Washington, D.C. — Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper introduced the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act to permanently protect key portions of the Gunnison Basin and the surrounding regions through a variety of public land management tools, including special designations focused on recreation, wildlife, scientific research, and conservation. 

The bill is based on over a decade of collaboration with local governments, Tribes, and public lands user groups. It has the bipartisan support of six counties in Western Colorado, as well as the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and local municipalities. A wide variety of local businesses and public lands user groups, including summer and winter motorized recreation, conservation, mountain biking, whitewater recreation, rock climbers, ranchers, water users, and hunters and anglers, also support the bill. 

“For over a decade, Coloradans have come together at trailheads and kitchen tables to share their love for the spectacular landscape in and around Gunnison County,” said Bennet. “This bill proves that people with wide-ranging interests can forge compromise and develop a common vision to protect our public lands for future generations.”

“Adventurers across Colorado and the country come to the Gunnison Basin for its rugged canyons and untamed wilderness,” said Hickenlooper. “Protecting these additional 730,000 acres will help keep it that way for generations.”

“Land is very important to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and throughout history we have lost a lot of land that has been taken from the tribe unjustly,” said Manuel Heart, Chairman Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. “To get land back for the tribe by putting it into Trust status as this legislation does, is important to the tribe’s children and grandchildren. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe appreciates Senator Bennet’s work on the GORP Act, supports the legislation and hopes it will move forward quickly in the US Senate.” 

“Colorado’s great outdoors are known around the world and this bill marks a valuable step in the need to protect the incredible Gunnison Basin for future generations of Coloradans and visitors," said Colorado Governor Jared Polis. “I appreciate Senator Bennet’s leadership on this issue and look forward to seeing this bill move forward.”

“As a former resident of the Gunnison Valley and Western Colorado University graduate, I am intimately aware of the importance public lands, wildlife and outdoor recreation are to local communities' economy and environment,” said Dan Gibbs, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Natural Resources. “Our forests, water, wildlife and open spaces are some of our most precious natural resources and outdoor recreation drives visitors and residents to our state to enjoy our diverse opportunities. I commend the work of Senator Bennet and the many diverse stakeholders on developing the locally driven Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act. Introduction is a great first step and I look forward to working alongside all interested parties as this legislation makes its way through the U.S. Congress.”

“The GORP Act reflects the way we do business in Gunnison County: we sit down with our neighbors to find common-ground solutions and a way forward to best serve our community. Public lands are our backyard here and I’m proud of the work we’ve done to bring so many stakeholders – snowmobilers, ranchers, mountain bikers, and conservationists to name a few – together,” said Jonathan Houck, Gunnison County Commissioner. “While GORP started in Gunnison County, I couldn’t be happier to stand with five neighboring Western Slope counties in support of this legislation, and I thank Senator Bennet for listening to our communities.”

“Delta County is glad to have worked with Senator Bennet on the GORP Act,” said the Delta County Commissioners. “Its provisions for Delta County will provide public access to a boat ramp, ensure that the BLM can continue to permit existing motorized boat use, and bring forward a thoughtful balance of uses on public lands in the North Fork Valley. This legislation shows what’s possible when we roll up our sleeves and work together.”

"The Saguache County Board of Commissioners are pleased to support the introduction of Senator Bennet's Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act (GORP), and eagerly anticipate the passing of this legislation,” said the Saguache County Commissioners. “We appreciate the multi years the many stakeholders have committed to this project."

“Pitkin County Is a strong supporter of public lands, and we believe in designating new Wilderness areas in sensitive landscapes, where appropriate,” said Greg Poschman, Chairman, Pitkin County Board of Commissioners. “We are incredibly grateful to Senator Bennet for his work on the GORP Act, and we look forward to celebrating the two proposed Wilderness designations in Colorado’s wild and pristine high country.”

“Hinsdale County was proud to have collaborated with Senator Bennet, Gunnison County and Ouray County on the GORP Act,” said Kristie Borchers, Chair, Hinsdale County Board of County Commissioners. “We are excited that a key portion of the scenic Cimarron area where Hinsdale, Ouray and Gunnison County come together will be protected by this legislation. This bill will help protect our watersheds and the landscapes that attract the visitors who help drive our mountain town economies in the San Juan Mountains. We look forward to seeing the GORP Act move forward in Congress.”

“The GORP Act sets the bar for collaborative and beneficial legislation,” said Lynn Padgett, Vice-Chair, Ouray County Board of County Commissioners. “I am forever grateful to Senator Bennet and his team and stakeholders like Gunnison, Hinsdale, and Ouray Counties for enthusiastically working together to include the proposed Uncompahgre Wilderness expansion and especially for protecting Turret Ridge. The peaks of the Cimarron range are unique in their scenery and geology. The GORP Act not only protects important migration areas for elk and key habitats for lynx and moose. The GORP Act protects our precious wildlands, vital to our local economy and quality of life.”

“Our groups have worked for nearly a decade to craft a vision for public lands in and around Gunnison County that will benefit our economy, environment, and quality of life into the future,” said members of the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative in a joint statement. “The GORP Act reflects the countless hours we spent working together and with communities around the Gunnison Basin. We are eager to see this thoughtful and well-vetted legislation signed into law.”

Background

The GORP Act will protect over 730,000 acres of public lands in Western Colorado, safeguarding the region’s local economy, world-class recreation, ranching heritage, wildlife habitat, and clean air and water. The bill also includes provisions for recreational boating in Delta County and at the request of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, transfers the Pinecrest Ranch from fee ownership to trust ownership. 

Senator Bennet drafted the GORP Act at the request of Gunnison County and based on a proposal from the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative. The bill also reflects the input from surrounding counties and feedback Senator Bennet received during a public comment period held in 2022. 

The text of the bill is available HERE. Maps of the areas designated by the bill are HERE. A summary of the bill is HERE. You can find additional information, including support letters and answers to frequently asked questions on the GORP Act website HERE.