Businesses Support Roadless Areas In Colorado

[Tim Smith]

From the American Fisheries Society newsfeed...protecting roadless areas has been called a "taking" in here on a par with piracy. Apparently quite a few businesses in Colorado do not have similar feelings about their home state.

The reality is that if you don't protect wild areas, you lose them.

News for Immediate Release

July 12, 2011

Sportsmen, Business Owners Urge USDA

to Conserve Colorado Roadless Areas

Colorado roadless rule must sustain valuable fish and wildlife habitat to

support

Colorado's outdoors-based economy, hunters and anglers assert

WASHINGTON -Today, 69 sportsmen-focused businesses and groups in Colorado

delivered a strongly worded letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture

Secretary Tom Vilsack urging his commitment to the natural resources and

fish and wildlife habitat found in the state's national forest roadless

areas, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced. The

sportsmen are reiterating the economic benefits of backcountry conservation

as the public comment period for a state-based roadless rule nears its July

14 deadline.

"Hunting and fishing contribute more than $1.8 billion annually to

Colorado's economy and often form the backbone of our state's rural

economies," the sportsmen

<http://www.trcp.org/assets/pdf/CO_Backcountry_Business_USDA_Sign-On_Letter.

pdf> 's letter states. "Without strong safeguards that conserve public lands

backcountry, hunting and fishing opportunities could diminish, and,

likewise, the economic vitality of the businesses and communities that rely

on them could decline."

The Colorado roadless rule, which will administer 4.2 million acres of

federal backcountry lands, is being finalized following a rulemaking process

that has spanned several years. Sportsmen, who have participated in the

rule's development since its inception, acknowledge improvements in the

current revision but stress that problematic loopholes in this version would

permit significant development in roadless areas. Such development could

negatively affect these lands and the outdoor traditions they support.

"Colorado's roadless areas are strongholds for native trout populations and

are the mainstay of many of our state's small-town economies," said Robert

Younghanz, manager of Angler's Covey Fly Shop in Colorado Springs.

"Conserving headwater streams and rivers in roadless areas can sustain both

our economy and our Western way of life." Angler's Covey Fly Shop signed the

sportsmen's letter.

"Colorado has more elk and mule deer than any other state in the nation - a

condition made possible by the core habitat found in backcountry lands,"

said Brian Chavet, owner of Elkhorn Fly Rod and Reel, also a signatory of

the letter, located in Loveland. "Backcountry conservation enables wildlife

managers to maintain strong wildlife populations and provide abundant

hunting opportunities on public lands throughout the state."

The just-released episode of

<http://www.trcp.org/community/native-trout-adventures> "TRCP's Native Trout

Adventures," a video blog produced by the sportsmen's group, showcases the

spectacular backcountry fishing for which Colorado is known. Traveling with

TRCP staff and partners to the Pike National Forest in search of greenback

cutthroat trout, viewers learn about the value of roadless fish and wildlife

habitat and how to submit their comments

<https://secure3.convio.net/trcp/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&i

d=144&JServSessionIdr004=wsinas9we3.app339a> on the Colorado roadless rule.

Watch now to experience this native trout fishing adventure and learn more

about the responsible management of public-lands fish and wildlife habitat

in Colorado. <http://www.trcp.org/community/native-trout-adventures>

Read the Colorado sportsmen

<http://www.trcp.org/assets/pdf/CO_Backcountry_Business_USDA_Sign-On_Letter.

pdf> 's and business owners' letter.