Backcountry Journal: Summer 2024

Backcountry hunters and anglers value wild country, clean water and intact habitat. It’s a founding principal of this organization, and one that remains a priority today.

But we aren’t the only ones who know their value. Five years ago I teamed up with rancher Bill Fales to advocate for protecting Colorado’s Thompson Divide from proposed oil and gas development. Bill and his family ranch alongside the Crystal River, south of Carbondale. The ranch has been in the family since 1924. They rely on summer grazing permits in the Thompson Divide.[1]

“West Slope ranches rely on high-quality summer pastures and clean water from the Thompson Divide,” we wrote in an April 2019 Post Independent op-ed. “The area spans dozens of watersheds, provides domestic and agricultural water in the Crystal, Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys, and supports 8,000 acres of cropland in the North Fork Valley, one of the most productive organic farming regions in the nation.”[2]

“Hunters and anglers … feel the same way about protecting public lands along the Continental Divide,” we wrote. “Wildlife populations along the I-70 corridor have been in steep decline for decades due to poor land use decisions and over-development in some of the best historic habitat.”[3] Perry Will, a former Colorado Parks and Wildlife supervisor – now serving in the state legislature – said elk in the region just don’t have the solitude they need any longer.[4]

For example, in a single decade approximately half of Eagle County’s elk population vanished. From Vail Pass to Glenwood Canyon, since the 2007 count by CPW, the numbers dropped by 50 %. CPW previously issued about 2,000 hunting tags for the area. During 2018, just 200 were issued. “It’s not like the elk are moving somewhere else, they are just dying off,” Will said.[5] In addition, Colorado’s statewide mule deer population plunged from 600,000 in 2006 to about 433,000 in 2018.[6]

Big game (and other) habitat in the Thompson Divide region and across the state is being sliced and diced into ever smaller pieces by the sloppy knives of energy development, road and trail building (legal and illegal) and expanding year-round outdoor recreation, which is why the April 2024 Department of the Interior’s Thompson Divide Administrative Mineral Withdrawal announcement was welcome and long overdue.[7]

The withdrawal protects 225,000 acres of public lands in western Colorado from future oil and gas leasing and mining for the next 20 years and is the result of a decade and a half of community collaboration – with local ranchers, hunters, anglers, businesses, and numerous other concerned groups and citizens contributing to this long-sought victory.[8]

“For many years, the communities surrounding the Thompson Divide have joined together to advocate for the protection of the Divide from the threat of new fossil fuel development – a use that is not compatible with the livelihoods of those that rely on this landscape today,” said Ben Bohmfalk, mayor of the town of Carbondale in an April 2024 E&E News story. “We thank the Biden administration for finalizing the process to withdraw the Thompson Divide area from new oil and gas leases.”[9]

As mayor Bohmfalk noted, the Thompson Divide – which includes big game migration routes, spring elk and deer calving grounds and Colorado cutthroat trout habitat – is too valuable to develop. Ranchers, hunters, anglers, and local leaders in western Colorado all agree. Although the Federal Land Policy and Management Act authorizes the Department of Interior secretary to withdraw lands for a maximum of 20 years, our best chance to permanently protect the Thompson Divide and the Continental Divide is the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act.[10]

Spearheaded by Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Joe Neguse, the CORE Act would make the Thompson Divide withdrawal permanent, designate 71,000 acres of new wilderness areas and create nearly 80,000 acres of new recreation and conservation management areas in the region.[11] What Bill Fales and I emphasized in our op-ed over half a decade ago still holds true today.

“Healthy, unfragmented public lands in the Continental Divide provide some of the best habitat for wildlife and the best backcountry hunting opportunities in the Central Rockies. … We applaud Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Joe Neguse for introducing the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act. Thank you for your bold and comprehensive vision to safeguard these revered landscapes and support our outdoor recreation economy.”[12]

I am all for responsibly using our natural resources, but sometimes oil and gas companies need to take no for an answer. This is one of those times. As BHA members know from boots on the ground experience, we are first and foremost dedicated to protecting public lands habitat – wherever, whenever and however we can. However, only Congress can permanently protect this landscape, and we will continue to push for passage of the CORE Act to do just that.

David Lien is a former Air Force officer and co-chairman of the Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. He’s the author of “Hunting for Experience: Tales of Hunting & Habitat Conservation” and during 2019 was the recipient of BHA’s Mike Beagle-Chairman’s Award “for outstanding effort on behalf of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.”[13]

Additional/Related Information

-“Thompson Divide Mineral Withdrawal: A win for all.” Backcountry Journal: Summer 2024, p. 7.

-Kaden McArthur. “What Project 2025 Means for Public Lands and Waters.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 7/15/24.

-The Department of Interior section of Project 2025 starts on p. 517 and includes, for example, restoring mining claims and oil and gas leases in Colorado’s Thompson Divide (p. 523).[14]

-https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_CHAPTER-16.pdf

-Kaden McArthur. “Federal Policy Update: April 2024: Thompson Divide Mineral Withdrawal Finalized in Colorado.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 5/1/24.

-“Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Support Dolores River Canyons National Monument Proposal.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 4/5/24.

-Thomas Plank. “Thompson Divide Mineral Withdrawal Benefits Public Lands, Waters, Wildlife.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 4/3/24.

-“Hunting For Experience: Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Oral History Project.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 3/28/24.

-“The Patron Saints of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 3/12/24.

-“Stalking Wildness: BHA’s Wilderness Warriors.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 2/13/24.

-“A Hunter-Angler (Hell-Raisin’ & Habitat Savin’) Guide To Winning: Colorado BHA Examples (Browns Canyon & Camp Hale).” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 10/23/23.

-Bill Fales and David Lien. “Guest opinion: CORE Act is best chance yet to protect key back country areas.” Glenwood Spring (Colo.) Post Independent: 4/12/19.

[1] Bill Fales and David Lien. “Guest opinion: CORE Act is best chance yet to protect key back country areas.” Glenwood Spring (Colo.) Post Independent: 4/12/19.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] David A. Lien. “Trails vs. Elk: ‘They’re Just Dying Off.’” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 12/3/21.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Christine Peterson. “For these mammals, migration is a means of survival: Will Westerners repair a fractured landscape for mule deer, pronghorn, and elk?” High Country News: 4/1/24.

[7] Thomas Plank. “Thompson Divide Mineral Withdrawal Benefits Public Lands, Waters, Wildlife.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 4/3/24.

[8] U.S. Department of the Interior. “Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Protections for Thompson Divide: Public lands in Colorado withdrawn from future mineral development to protect wildlife habitat, clean air and water, and outdoor recreation opportunities.” Press Release: 4/3/24.

[9] Scott Streater. “Feds bar new drilling, mining in Colorado’s Thompson Divide.” E&E News: 4/3/24.

[10] David A. Lien. “Final steps for crucial preservation of over 400,000 acres in Colorado: The CORE Act would honor Cape Hale legacy and provide important habitat protections for wildlife.” Colorado Newsline: 7/27/22.

[11] David A. Lien. “CO BHA Legislative Statement: Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Support Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act & Dolores River National Conservation Area And Special Management Area Act.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 7/12/23.

[12] Bill Fales and David Lien. “Guest opinion: CORE Act is best chance yet to protect key back country areas.” Glenwood Spring (Colo.) Post Independent: 4/12/19.

[13] https://www.backcountryhunters.org/co_bha_award_winners

[14] Michelle Nijhuis and Erin X. Wong. “Project 2025’s extreme vision for the West” High Country News: 7/19/24.