Wildlife-related activities create $1.4 billion in state

Report cites their economic clout in roadless area debate

Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 4, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Local News

Hunting, fishing and wildlife watching generate more than $1 billion per year in Colorado and merit a voice in the roadless area debate, according to a study released Tuesday.

"Wildlife is an issue that has been drummed out of the debate about roadless areas in Colorado," said Brian O'Donnell, public lands director for Trout Unlimited.

Trout Unlimited, a nonprofit conservation group, drafted the report on the economic value of fishing, hunting and wildlife viewing in roadless areas.

Colorado may be the first state to decide the fate of nearly 5 million roadless acres controlled by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.

Under the Bush administration, each western state will decide what portion of the federal lands will remain roadless and how much will remain closed to vehicles.

Gov. Bill Owens appointed a roadless area task force to hold public hearings, consider written comments and recommend how many acres should remain roadless.

O'Donnell said hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing generated about $1.4 billion in 2002, the most recent year for which figures were available.

The revenue comes from fishing and hunting licenses, jobs created by wildlife, travel and lodging expenses and equipment purchases, he said.

"The roadless areas are something people can enjoy year after year after year," said O'Donnell. "It's a recurring economic benefit."

The energy and the off-highway vehicle industries represent the other side of the debate at the task force's meetings, advocating that more acres be opened to vehicles.

"There are literally millions of acres available for energy development," said O'Donnell. "Most of the national forests are already roaded for vehicles."

The Forest Service manages 14.5 million acres in Colorado, but only 4.4 million acres are roadless. The BLM oversees 8.4 million acres, including 500,000 roadless acres.

"The information from Trout Unlimited will be valuable to the task force," said Joe Duda, who works for the Colorado State Forest Service and serves on the task force.

"The recreational revenue is important to Colorado," said Duda, who worked in the timber industry.

The roadless task force will hold a third public meeting in Pueblo on Friday evening.

John Ellenberger, a retired big game manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said the state's population growth and energy development will make it harder to maintain large parcels of public land for wildlife.

"Everything now is in the industries' favor. We need to balance what the industry needs with what we need to maintain wildlife," he said.

The state's Natural Resources Department oversees the task force. The task force members received copies of the Trout Unlimited report, spokeswoman Dawn Taylor Owens said.

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News