Written by Micha Rosenoer, Southwest Field Organizer
New Years resolutions can be hard to stick to sometimes, but here in Southwestern Colorado, celebrating the recent passage of the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act with some backcountry skiing, mountain biking, and fly fishing will be an easy one to keep! We hope you’ll join us in getting outside to enjoy Southwest Colorado’s brand new wilderness area during the coming months.
On December 19, 2014, President Obama signed into law permanent protections for the Hermosa Creek watershed, putting the final touches on a six year community-led process to protect 170 square miles of land just north of Durango. That same day, the local community celebrated our successful multi-year effort with Rep. Tipton and Sen. Bennet in style. We raised our glasses to this exceptional feat of bipartisanship, community coordination and consensus, as well as the years of patience, negotiation, and hard work that brought these protections to fruition.
To everyone who made phone calls, wrote letters, signed petitions, spoke up in meetings, attended events, and promised to keep doing the good (and sometimes trying) work necessary to protect Hermosa – THANK YOU! We couldn’t have done it without you. Our efforts to protect the Hermosa Creek watershed may even serve as a model of how to successfully preserve and protect our most cherished natural places for years to come. Everyone involved deserves a big hug, some fresh powder, and a long nap.
In the end, the bill protected 108,000 acres of land surrounding Hermosa Creek, including nearly 38,000 acres of new wilderness. Additionally, the bill closed Lake Nighthorse, Horse Gulch, Animas Mountain, and Perins Peak – key recreational and wildlife areas surrounding Durango – to any future drilling or mining. These areas will now provide crucial protected habitat for local species of elk, deer, and cutthroat trout, as well as places for us to fish, hunt, hike, backpack, snowmobile, and mountain bike together for years to come.
Please join us in thanking Congressman Tipton and Senator Bennet for their incredible leadership on Hermosa Creek, and stay tuned for opportunities to get out and play in the Hermosa area with us soon.
Wondering what’s next on the southwestern agenda? In the short term, we’ll be working to protect our American heritage from fringe efforts at the state legislature to seize our national public lands and even auction them off to the highest bidder – be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for ways to engage on this important issue. Also, we’ll be looking into ways to protect even more of our treasured lands in the San Juan Mountains. In the meantime, enjoy this huge community accomplishment regarding Hermosa Creek, and pat each other on the back. You deserve it!
Your Southwest Organizer,
Micha Rosenoer
