U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member: Agriculture, Energy, Veterans' Affairs, Ethics and Aging Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

April 10, 2006

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Comm. Director

                        303-455-7600

Andrew Nannis  – Press Secretary

                        202-224-5852


 Sen. Salazar’s Proposal to Protect Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness Areas Receives Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A proposal to permanently designate nearly a quarter-of-a-million acres of Colorado’s most heavily used national park, Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), as wilderness, last week received a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. The “Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness Act,” S.1510, was offered by United States Senator Ken Salazar.

“This is another critical step forward for the protection of Rocky Mountain National Park,” said Senator Salazar. “For years, more than 3 million people each year have visited one of America’s crown jewels of the National Park System. Now, further protections will help preserve the Park for generations to come.”

Under S. 1510, 249,339 acres of RMNP, currently already being managed as wilderness lands by park managers, would be added to the National Wilderness Preservation System. These lands have been managed as wilderness since 1974, awaiting congressional designation. In 1964 President Nixon first recommended that Congress designate over 239,000 acres within the Park as wilderness.

“This wilderness designation guarantees consistent management and removes ambiguity for park managers,” said Senator Salazar. “It does not create any new federal water rights, affect privately owned land, impact existing roadways, buildings and developed areas, nor affect areas where additional facilities and roadwork will improve the park.”

Senator Salazar’s bill has strong local support by the towns of Grand Lake, Estes Park, and Winter Park as well as Larimer County, The Headwaters Trail Alliance (on behalf of Winter Park, Fraser, Granby, Hot Sulphur Springs, Grand Lake, the Fraser Valley Metropolitan Recreation District, Grand Lake Metropolitan Recreation District, and Fraser Valley Partnership for Trails) and the National Park Service.

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