TELLURIDE, Colo. - It's taken several years of collaboration with the local community, but Congress is again considering a bill to expand the San Juan Wilderness near Ouray, Silverton and Telluride.



The bill, introduced by Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, both D-Colo., would protect about 61,000 acres in all - including valuable land around two 14,000-foot peaks - and create two new areas: the McKenna Peak Wilderness and the Sheep Mountain Special Management Area, on a ridge bordering San Miguel and San Juan counties.



Jeff Widen with the Wilderness Society says the key to this bill was compromise.



"The goal there was to make sure that we talked with everybody that could be affected and make appropriate adjustments to the proposals."



Only part of the land would fall under wilderness designations. The rest would allow for recreation, but be off-limits to activities such as mining.



Despite the collaborative nature of the bill, some area Republicans, including the Ouray County Republican Party, are opposed to any more wilderness in the region, saying it will disrupt the economic engines of mining and tourism. Supporters counter that wilderness and the attendant outdoor recreation actually fuels economic growth - contributing $10 billion annually to the state economy and supporting more than 100,000 jobs.



Ridgway Mayor Pat Willits says his town is part of the broad coalition - including towns, counties and area businesses - which support the bill.



"It would add acreage that is about 8,000 acres of the town of Ridgway's water source. And that is really, really important to us."



Unlike some legislation, Widen says, this bill comes from the people and not Washington lawmakers.



"You can truly say this is a grassroots, locally generated piece of legislation."



The previous proposal to protect similar lands was introduced in 2009 - and never came up for a vote.



U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., is to hold a listening session on the bill at 5:30 p.m. today at the Ouray Community Center.



The report on the economic impacts of outdoor recreation is online at outdoorindustry.org.

