The 53,000-acre Bennet Peak Roadless Area is a pristine part of the Bennet Peak/Lion Point/Greenie Mountain Roadless Area complex located south of Del Norte and north of the South San Juan Wilderness and La Jara Reservoir State Wildlife Area. The mountainous, volcanic landscape is thickly timbered and important habitat for elk, mule deer, black bear, and mountain lion. Bennet Peak Roadless Area is an important watershed of the upper Rio Grande and is a buffer area between agriculturally developed land to the east and the South San Juan Wilderness Area to the south where it is claimed the last grizzly bear in the Rio Grande National Forest was shot.
The Forest Service is hard-pressed to maintain its current road system, which covers 380,000 miles nationwide-enough to circle the Earth 15 times. With a backlog of repair and maintenance work estimated at more than $8 billion, adding more roads to an already over-extended travel system does not make economic sense.
"The premium backcountry experience is found in a non-motorized environment. I believe we are losing a lot of our backcountry, our wildlife corridors, and our water quality because of increasing road density. As far as logging goes, there seem to be adequate existing roads; I would like to see the road building stopped, and redundant roads should be closed. The motorized community seems to be split, one tracked, two tracked, 4wd. I would like to see that they use what they already have. There is plenty of access already to backcountry for hiking, fishing, and lakes. As far as my business is concerned, if we maintain the status quo, most of us can be happy, including the wildlife. There is a lot of support from outfitters for roadless areas, I just hope we can all pull together and resolve this issue."
- Kate Booth-Doyle, La Garita Llamas, Del Norte
Roadless Rule Would Protect Bennet Peak from Road Development
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule would protect nearly 60 million acres of unspoiled National Forest land across the United States, including 4.4 million acres in Colorado, from road building and most logging. The Rule is under assault by the Bush administration, which appears intent on dismantling it as quickly as possible.
That would be bad news for Colorado and the more than 530,000 roadless acres on the Rio Grande National Forest, which lies at the heart of Colorado's Rocky Mountains. If the Rule is revoked, the Bennett Mountain Roadless Area and dozens of other equally beautiful roadless wildlands on the Rio Grande National Forest could be logged or otherwise developed.
Other Roadless Areas On The Rio Grande National Forest
Other roadless areas in the Rio Grande NF include Snowshoe Mountain, Pole Mountain/Finger Mesa, and Chama Basin. Roadless areas in the Rio Grande NF provide habitat to species such as cutthroat trout, goshawk, marten, red-beaked bole, boreal owl, golden-crowned kinglet, and brown creeper.
Roadless Areas Sustain Colorado's High Quality of Life
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule makes good economic sense for Colorado. Our economy and quality of life are tied to Colorado's outstanding public wildlands. Millions of tourists and numerous new businesses and residents come to Colorado each year to enjoy these special places, not to see clearcuts and sediment-filled streams caused by logging and road building. Logging and wood products industries contribute less than one percent to the state's pool of jobs. The Rule would not limit public access to roadless lands for recreation nor would it close any existing roads.
Coloradans Support the Roadless Rule
The Forest Service issued the Rule after three years of research and analysis that included extensive public involvement. More than 600 public meetings were held nationwide, including 27 in Colorado. More than 1.6 million public comments were submitted, including more than 28,000 from Coloradans. The vast majority of comments nationwide and 92 percent of those from Colorado supported the Rule or urged stronger protection for roadless areas than the Rule would provide.
