IT'S TIME: Letters/emails of support needed!
Please write to your elected officials
Now's the time to express your support for the Hidden Gems wilderness proposal!
For more than two years, the Hidden Gems Campaign has been patiently working at the grassroots level - building awareness, enlisting supporters (like you), getting our ducks in a row before formally taking the proposal to our elected officials.
Many of you offered at various times to write letters of support, and we said "not yet." We promised we'd let you know when it was time. THE TIME HAS COME!
Click on your county to send a letter in support of the Hidden Gems to your elected officials.
Click here for a PDF of contact information for your elected officials.
Background
Our organizers are in the midst of making presentations to the county commissions of all the main counties affected by the Hidden Gems proposal. Obtaining resolutions of support from these counties is crucial for securing Congressional sponsorship and introduction of Hidden Gems legislation. The more positive letters they recieve from constituents, the more likely they will be in support of the proposal.
Moreover, our Congressional delegation will be looking closely at the level of local support in deciding whether to introduce Hidden Gems legislation and how hard to push for it. Your email is an important part of helping them understand that as a community we want to protect our backcountry from gas drilling, road building and other damaging activities.
The Hidden Gems proposal identifies more than 40 parcels deserving the protections afforded by the Wilderness Act. They range in size from a few thousand acres to over 100,000 acres. We've met with numerous stakeholders, making countless boundary adjustments and accommodations to craft a proposal that makes sense for our community and the environment.
The Hidden Gems proposal is teed up to be the next big push for wilderness in Colorado (after the Northern San Juans wilderness bill, which is currently moving in Congress), and has the backing of the state and national wilderness community. Unlike the smaller, area-specific wilderness bills that have predominated in recent years, it's an ambitious regional package that we hope will set a new trend at the state (and perhaps even national) level, swinging the pendulum back to the big, visionary conservation efforts of the 1970s and '80s.
