Sponsor
Diana DeGette
Representative · D-CO
Representative · D-CO
Official title: To designate certain lands in the State of Colorado as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 9, 2026 by Diana DeGette · Last progress February 9, 2026
The bill permanently protects significant Colorado lands and water rights to conserve habitat, recreation, and tourism benefits while trading off limits on development and infrastructure, added management costs, and some reduced local control and recreational quiet in favor of conservation and legal clarity.
Rural communities, recreationists, and wildlife benefit from permanent federal wilderness protection for multiple large tracts in Colorado, preserving habitat, scenery, and recreation access and supporting outdoor tourism economies.
Homeowners, utilities, and water users keep existing vested/decreed water rights and gain instream flow protections, while preexisting water facilities and access routes remain usable, reducing risk to current water users.
Local, state, and federal land managers and the public gain clearer boundaries and legal certainty through filed maps and describable wilderness boundaries, aiding planning and administration.
Rural communities, local governments, and resource businesses face reduced economic opportunities because wilderness designations restrict commercial activities (mining, energy, motorized access) and bar new water-resource facility development.
The Colorado State Land Board and private landowners may be constrained because their lands won't be included unless the federal government acquires them, complicating development plans and land-use expectations.
Federal land-management agencies (BLM, Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation) and taxpayers face added administrative responsibilities and potential costs to implement, monitor, and manage new boundaries and protections, and there is a risk of costly federal adjudication if state-held water agreements prove insufficient.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Designates multiple BLM and Forest Service parcels in Colorado as wilderness or potential wilderness and sets management, grazing, and water-rights rules for those areas.
Designates multiple Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service parcels in Colorado as additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System, creating several new wilderness areas and adding acreage to existing ones. It establishes management rules under the Wilderness Act, preserves existing grazing and water rights subject to conditions, allows certain preexisting recreational and military activities to continue, and creates three "potential wilderness" tracts that become full wilderness once specified nonconforming uses end.