Coloradans, perhaps better than anyone, understand and appreciate just how special the wilderness can be. And as connoisseurs of the outdoors, they recognize there are not only wild places, but there are best wild places. These are the places that inspire — some acknowledged and held sacred, others that have managed to remain under the radar. Others still find themselves perched in a sort of purgatory somewhere in between.
Hermosa Creek, in the San Juan National forest just north of Durango, might qualify among those in-betweeners. To Durango locals, the drainage that translates to "beautiful" creek epitomizes the Colorado outdoor experience, and they'd like to see it remain that way. But those who don't frequent the Four Corners region may not be aware of all that this hidden gem has to offer.
Count the majority of U.S. Congress among that latter group. For more than a year now, a bipartisan bill known as the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act has languished in the legislative branch of our federal government as a consensus of local stakeholders await acknowledgment of efforts to preserve the attributes that make the place so special.
"The primary thing the bill does is it takes the basin and protects it exactly as it is today," said Ty Churchwell, backcountry coordinator for Trout Unlimited's Sportsmen's Conservation Project. "This bill is completely supported by consensus from all stakeholders — everyone from county commissioners and town boards to sportsmen, miners, mountain bikers and motorized users. There's nothing for them to do in D.C. but vote it forward."
