Wilderness Workshop joins wildlife advocates in thanking Sen. Bennet and Rep. Neguse for leadership in opposing Berlaimont Estates access road.
Contact: Peter Hart, Wilderness Workshop
peter@wildernessworkshop.org; 303.475.4915
FOR RELEASE: March 24, 2026
Edwards, Colo. – Today, Wilderness Workshop joined community members from
Eagle County, Colo., to support Senator Michael Bennet’s and Representative Joe Neguse’s introduction of legislation to prohibit the Forest Service from opening, improving, authorizing, permitting, or constructing a year-round road on public land located north of Edwards, Colorado. The legislation would also clarify that the existing unpaved, seasonal road provides adequate access to inholdings on the federal land north of Edwards. In addition, the legislation includes a provision to make it easier for the developers or a future landowner to sell the property to the Forest Service if they choose to do so.
The proposed road is associated with the Berlaimont Estates development proposal which would construct 19 luxury estates in a remote area north of Edwards, impacting critical elk and deer habitat and highly valued recreation areas on public lands.
Read Senator Bennet’s press release. https://www.bennet.senate.gov/2026/03/24/bennet-neguse-introduce-legislation-to-block-berlaimont-private-access-road/
“Thanks to Senator Bennet and Congressman Neguse for listening to local voices and White River National Forest users,” said Wilderness Workshop’s legal director, Peter Hart. “Very few projects have garnered as much public opposition as the road to Berlaimont Estates. Whether it is the impact of paving some of the last best winter wildlife habitat in the Eagle Valley while deer and elk populations continue declining, building walls on public lands for a switch-backing access road that will block deer and elk migration, or degrading cherished hiking and mountain biking trails, this project will cause permanent harm. People reject the idea of sacrificing wildlife and public lands for the benefit of a speculative luxury real estate development. This is not where limited Forest Service resources should be allocated.”
“Our public lands and the wildlife populations that rely on them are what make Eagle County such a special place to live and visit,” said longtime Eagle County resident and avid hunter, Kevin Hochtl. “The Forest Service should focus limited budgets on protecting our National Forest lands rather than approving damaging new access roads for billionaire developers. Local sportsmen appreciate the work Senator Bennet and Congressman Neguse are doing to protect public lands and prohibit wasteful and damaging expenditures.”
“As a former wildlife manager and 54-year resident of the Eagle Valley, I’ve seen lots of damaging projects rammed through agency approval processes,” said Bill Heicher, Eagle resident and former district wildlife manager for the State of Colorado. “Berlaimont Estates is more of the same. The severe impacts this development will create include serious wildfire risk, water quantity and quality issues, and wildlife impacts. It will result in the destruction of critical habitats and movement corridors, loss of recreational opportunities, visual blight, and increased demand for more affordable workforce housing to support the multimillion-dollar estates. Instead of the local forest service personnel spending any more time and money on this speculative real estate project, I would hope the forest service that is dealing with limited manpower and severe budget constraints, would address the more serious natural resource concerns on the White River National Forest. I’d like to thank Michael Bennet and Joe Neguse for their leadership on this.”
