Surrounded by public lands – including Wilderness Areas, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and the Gunnison National Forest – the North Fork Valley is unlike anywhere else in Colorado and even the world. It contains the largest concentration of organic, sustainable growers in the state and is home to the West Elk American Viticultural Area, one of the highest wine-growing regions in the world.

Gunnison River Near Paonia. Photo courtesy Jon Mullen/Ecostock.

Public lands and waters surround the North Fork Valley; the BLM administers the mineral development rights underneath bountiful agricultural fields. Photo courtesy Jon Mullen/ Ecostock.

Though wildlife, agriculture, and the local economy depend on intact and thriving ecosystems on these public lands, substantial threats – primarily from oil and gas development – remain. 2022 saw major progress by Wilderness Workshop:

  • During the Trump administration, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a Resource Management Plan for the area, opening up 95% of public lands to oil and gas leasing, including the entire North Fork Valley. We sued and in 2022, the BLM agreed to settle and draft another plan. Our legal settlement stipulates that in the new plan the BLM will evaluate reducing the amount of land open to oil and gas leasing, and increase or add protections for wildlife habitat, Lands with Wilderness Characteristics, and Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.
  • In 2021, we sued the BLM over the North Fork Mancos Master Development Plan, which would have allowed 35 new fracking wells in the North Fork Valley and Thompson Divide. Thanks to our lawsuit, in May 2022 a federal judge stopped this plan that would have allowed fracking across 35,000 acres of Colorado’s Western Slope.
  • We continued our advocacy for new land and water protections as part of the Gunnison Forest Plan Revision. Our proposal – for recommended wildernesses and special management areas in places like Huntsman Ridge, Clear Fork Divide, and Pilot Knob – would protect over 130,000 acres of important wildlife habitat, water resources, and wilderness quality land while shielding these special areas from logging and fossil fuel leasing.
What is a Forest Plan Revision?

A Forest Plan sets the overall management direction and guidance for a national forest; it guides management activities at a large, forest-wide scale, providing direction regarding the types of uses that may take place within each part of the forest. Generally revised every 20 years, Forest Plans are important conservation tools and provide the opportunity to ensure wildlife habitat, ecological values, and clean water are prioritized over extractive uses. The Gunnison National Forest is currently undergoing a Forest Plan Revision and we anticipate a White River National Forest Plan Revision will begin as early as 2024.