Colorado senator Michael Bennet and representative Jared Polis introduced a bill yesterday that would designate new wilderness in the White River National Forest.
The bill, titled the Continental Divide Recreation, Wilderness, and Camp Hale Legacy Act, would create protections for nearly 100,000 acres in the White River National Forest, along the Continental Divide. It would expand the Holy Cross Wilderness Area in Eagle County, and create new designated wilderness in the Tenmile Range, west of Breckenridge. There are two new wildlife conservation areas included in the measure as well.
It would also make the 10th Mountain Division training site at Camp Hale the country’s first National Historic Landscape. Polis and Bennet say this would both preserve an important historical landmark and protect the surrounding ecosystem.
The bill has support from commissioners in Eagle, Summit and Grand counties, as well as from local environmental groups. It was introduced in both chambers of Congress.
