DeGette may adjust wilderness proposal in Carbondale area

Two areas in Pitkin County are ripe for a wilderness designation, according to U.S. Rep Diana DeGette, but the congresswoman said Tuesday she is considering adjusting the boundary of one to remove a mountain biking trail. The Assignation Ridge/ Thompson Creek area that is part of her bill encompasses some 25,000 acres, including the Braderich Creek Trail. DeGette said she is considering removing the trail from her proposal so that mountain bikers can continue to use it. DeGette's bill proposes designation of 34 areas comprising 850,000 acres in Colorado as wilderness. That is down from 63 areas covering 1.6 million acres when she began the effort 11 years ago, she said...more

Here is the interesting part for everybody:

Now, the Natural Resources Committee, on which she sits, is contemplating putting forward an omnibus public lands bill this fall. The “stars are aligned” to push through some of the wilderness in her bill, DeGette said. “What we're trying to do is figure out areas that are appropriate for wilderness designation right now so they can be included with this bill in the fall,” she said.

If Rep. DeGette's information is correct, we are heading for another omnibus bill this fall. Rather than having an up or down vote on each bill based on its merit, they lump them all together and ram them through with one vote.