On April 3, 2024 the US Department of the Interior announced a tremendous step towards lasting protection of the Thompson Divide.

A 20-year administrative mineral withdrawal was approved. Thank you to everyone who made this happen!

Our rural economies in and around the Roaring Fork Valley rely, in part, upon existing uses in the Thompson Divide area. The Thompson Divide area supports local jobs and world-class recreation. Hunters, anglers, ranchers, hikers and bikers all benefit from this one-of-a-kind landscape. It produces an estimated $30 million in annual economic output for our region. The Divide embodies the rural and wild character of western Colorado but is threatened with possible oil and gas development and a lack of permanent protection.

The Administrative Mineral Withdrawal for the Thompson Divide, will close the area to oil and gas leasing and mining for 20 years. The Mineral Withdrawal will protect 225,000 acres of public lands from future oil and gas leasing, as well as mining.

Community Celebrates 20 Years of Protections for the Thompson Divide

April 3, 2024 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CARBONDALE, CO – Earlier today, the Department of the Interior announced the finalization of the Thompson Divide Administrative Mineral Withdrawal, which will protect 225,000 acres of public lands in western Colorado from future oil and gas leasing and mining for the next 20 years.

The withdrawal is the result of a decade and a half of strong community collaboration — local ranchers, mountain bikers, conservationists and businesses are celebrating this historic win for local public lands.

The Thompson Divide stretches south from Glenwood Springs through the Sunlight Ski Resort, across McClure and Kebler passes, and all the way to Crested Butte, including Mt. Emmons.

“This is a long, long time coming. Wilderness Workshop and local communities have been working for over a decade to safeguard this incredible landscape,” said Will Roush, Executive Director of Wilderness Workshop. “This mineral withdrawal will provide much deserved and long lasting protection to the Thompson Divide, an area filled with immense aspen groves, vast roadless lands, community watersheds, and rich wildlife habitat. Preserving this ecologically intact ecosystem reflects the will of local communities and is critical for the state’s biological connectivity and biodiversity.”

In 2009, the Thompson Divide Coalition, comprised of ranchers, recreationalists and conservationists, joined together to fight the threat of oil and gas development, generating strong community support in the process from local businesses, governments and from public land users across the country.

In the ensuing decade, the movement gained momentum, prompted the introduction of federal legislation, and convinced the White River National Forest to close much of the area to new oil and gas leasing.

“For six generations my family has operated Sunfire Ranch at the base of the Thompson Divide. Protecting Thompson Creek and the remote areas on the Divide benefits all of us, helping ranchers, wildlife, and our local economy thrive,” said Jason Sewell, rancher and fifth-generation steward of Sunfire Ranch. “Ranchers and farmers joined together with mountain bikers, hunters, business owners and recreationists in support of an administrative withdrawal. We congratulate the BLM and Forest Service for hearing the voices of Western Colorado and for taking this important action to protect the Divide.”

Federal law provides the Secretary of the Interior authority to administratively withdraw lands from mining and oil and gas leasing for a period of up to 20 years. In October 2022, President Biden ordered his administration to initiate a public process for an administrative withdrawal, which concluded with Secretary Haaland’s decision today. We thank President Biden, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and BLM Colorado State Director Doug Vilsack for their bold action to protect this cherished landscape.

In addition to hunting units that generate over 20,000 big-game licenses each year, the Divide provides important recreational opportunities for climbers, bikers, anglers, equestrians and hikers. The area supports more than 300 jobs and generates more than $30 million each year in economic benefits to the local economy.

Linking wildlands east of Grand Junction to the Elk Mountains, the Divide is a known important migration corridor for lynx, moose, elk, deer, bear and mountain lions. Forty-nine percent of the Thompson Divide—about 110,600 acres—is one of Colorado’s most important ecosystems according to reports, and 34,000 acres in the Divide receive top scores for ecological connectivity, which means high-value, unfragmented habitat. Beyond the strong local support for protecting the Divide, the landscape has garnered statewide and national attention for its significance to the state’s old west ranching culture, and the importance of protecting large landscapes for climate resilience.

“Coloradans take pride in our treasured public lands. For the next 20 years, we can be assured the Thompson Divide will benefit from clean air, clear streams and intact wildlife habitat,” said Jim Ramey, Colorado State Director for The Wilderness Society. “We applaud the Biden Administration for heeding the calls of Coloradans to protect a critical landscape which sustains our lives, communities and economy.”

While the administrative withdrawal would provide important interim protections for the next 20 years, permanent protection of the Divide would be secured with the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act. The CORE Act has passed the House several times and was recently favorably reported by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with bipartisan support. Conservation groups, sportspeople and ranchers in the Thompson Divide are continuing to support efforts to ensure the CORE Act gets passed.

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“After 18 years of work and waiting, protection for the Thompson Divide becomes a reality today! I am so excited I can hardly believe this dream has finally come true. On behalf of the wildlife, clean waters, clear air, healthy habitat, and all the recreation, grazing and economic support this protection brings to the people of the Crystal and Colorado watersheds, I would like to give a huge THANK YOU to all the many supporting organizations and people, from the grassroots to Congress to the President of the United States, who helped bring this effort to fruition. This is a great day.” Judy Fox-Perry, Thompson Divide Rancher.

Wilderness Workshop works across more than 4 million acres of public lands to ensure their ecological integrity. We have led efforts to designate more than half a million acres of Wilderness and hundreds of thousands of roadless areas in western Colorado. Learn more at WildernessWorkshop.org.

Thompson Divide Coalition’s mission is to secure permanent protection from oil and gas development on Federal lands in the Thompson Divide. Learn more at ThompsonDivide.org

The Wilderness Society has been working since 1935 on uniting people to protect America’s wild places. With more than one million members and supporters, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect nearly 112 million acres of wilderness in 44 states and ensure public lands’ sound management. We have been at the forefront of nearly every major public lands victory.

Additional Resources

Learn more about the Thompson Divide, including a timeline, here.

CURRENT STATUS:tIME TO PARTY

Administrative Mineral Lease Withdrawal APPROVED (U.S. Forest Service - NEPA Review)

According The White House website, “In response to broad concerns about protecting Thompson Divide’s important wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities, grazing lands and clean air and water, the administration is proposing a 20-year withdrawal of the Thompson Divide area from disposition under the public land laws, mining laws, and mineral and geothermal leasing laws, subject to valid existing rights. the DOI accepted a petition for a mineral withdrawal submitted by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service, kickstarting a two-year period in which new mining claims and leases will be prohibited at Thompson Divide.”

A withdrawal requires analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and vocal public support and participation is very important. The agencies began the NEPA environmental analysis and public comment periods in Spring 2023. After public comment periods in 2023, the DRAFT EA Report was released in December 2023. The deadline for Public Comments was January 8, 2024. This is the last opportunity to show support for the Withdrawal in the public process. Convincing the federal agencies to move quickly (in less than two years) is the top priority of the current TDC campaign. It is easy for reviews to get lost in the process or delayed. Showing the Forest service and BLM that is a strong and diverse coalition of support for the withdrawal will keep the pressure on and the process moving.

BACKGROUND:

Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy Act (CORE) ACT

Senator Michael Bennet Senator, John Hickenlooper and Representative Joe Neguse introduced the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act--a comprehensive public lands bill that both protects the landscape and safeguards existing outdoor recreation opportunities to boost the economy for future generations.  The Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Act included in in this bill withdraws 200,000 acres from future oil and gas development while preserving existing property rights for leaseholders and landowners.

• Between 2019 and 2022 the CORE Act made several steps through the legislative process, including passage by the U.S. House of Representatives. It did not make final inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act.

• On February 2, 2021 the CORE Act was reintroduced in Congress. May 3, 2022 a Senate Committee hearing vote resulted in a tie, therefore stalling the CORE Act from going to the full Senate for a vote.

• In May of 2023 Senator Michael Bennet and Representative Joe Neguse re-introduced the CORE Act. In July 2023 Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, testified during a Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining hearing in support of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act. We are awaiting a “mark-up” hearing sometime in fall of 2023.

ABOUT THE TDC
The Thompson Divide Coalition is and was always intended to be a time-limited, single-issue organization focused solely on the conservation of public lands in the Thompson Divide area of Garfield, Pitkin, and Gunnison Counties. As a community, we have achieved meaningful protections for this landscape and, most importantly, for the men and women who rely on these lands for their livelihoods. We will continue to seek long-term permanent protections for these lands.

Our rural economies in and around the Roaring Fork Valley rely, in part, upon existing uses in the Thompson Divide area.  Collectively, hunting, fishing, ranching, and recreation in the Thompson Divide area support nearly 300 jobs and $30 million in annual economic output for our local communities.

Development in the Thompson Divide area is not a “game-changer” for Colorado’s oil and gas industry, but development in the area would seriously impact rich and vibrant rural economies built around existing uses in the Thompson Divide.