July 15, 2010

Dear Editor,

            On April 15, 2010, Congressman John Salazar submitted a bill titled “Central Rockies Land Exchange and National Park System Enhancement Act of 2010,” H.R.5059, for consideration by the U.S. House on Representatives.

            On June 24, 2010, Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall submitted the same bill for consideration by the U.S. Senate.

            If it becomes law, the bill will transfer 1,846 acres of B.L.M. and Forest Service land located east of the Paonia Reservoir and running toward the Ragged Mountains into private hands – those of the Bear Ranch, LLC. In return, the federal government will get 911 acres of privately owned land within the Curecanti National Monument and 80 acres of privately owned land within Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. 

            There is nothing in this bill for Delta County even though the land to be traded away is used mostly by Delta County residents and lies in our watershed.

            Moreover, this bill has been drafted without public input. Nothing about this bill had appeared in any Gunnison County or Delta County newspaper.

            A bill with the potential to cut off one of the access routes into the Ragged Mountains and its streams and lakes should have started out with public meetings, news articles, and the kind of back-and-forth that surrounded the Dominguez Wilderness area and even Paonia’s local Mount Jumbo. Instead, Salazar, Bennet and Udall submitted a bill without finding out what we thought.

            It is especially wrong when you read the leaked comments from unnamed BLM staffers. Among other things, these staffers say that the bill threatens several utility and road rights-of-way, such as those held by DMEA and TDS and local landowners.

            More seriously, the BLM staffers wrote that the exchange would transfer into private hands valuable federal metallurgical coal and natural gas deposits. These resources might then become off limits to mining and drilling, or perhaps they would then become immensely valuable private holdings. The confusion arises because the bill requires the Bear Ranch to place a conservation easement on the newly acquired land, but it is not clear from the BLM’s critique how air-tight that easement might be.  In any case, this transfer out of the public domain of energy resources potentially affects the economic future of our area and should not be decided without widespread public discussion.

            This bill is an out-of-sight rearrangement of our local federal lands. It appears from the bill and from the Gunnison County Commissioners’ on-line agendas and minutes that Gunnison County has weighed in on the bill and gotten itself some goodies. But these are not Gunnison County’s lands. These are federal lands that belong to all of us and are mostly used by and dependent on by those of us who live in Delta County.

            I ask that Congressman Salazar and Senators Udall and Bennet withdraw their bill and start the public process they should have begun with.

            Those wishing to read the bill or the BLM comments can contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and I will send you copies. Or HR 5059 can be found on-line.

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                        Ed Marston

                                                                        Paonia, Colorado