Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) on Thursday re-introduced a far-reaching conservation bill that would protect 1.35 million acres of pristine wilderness in Colorado from development.

The Colorado Wilderness Act proposes to set aside 46 backcountry regions, now mostly managed by the BLM, as federal wilderness areas.

The designations — representing 2 percent of the total Colorado land base — would forever block high-impact use, including mining, logging, road-building, motorized-vehicle travel and bicycling.

Most of the parcels are located on the Western Slope, with five sites — Weber-Menefee Mountain, Cross/Mares Tail Canyons, Snaggletooth, McKenna Peak and the Dolores River goosenecks — situated in Dolores and Montezuma counties. Those proposed wilderness zones represent 150,600 acres of mostly BLM lands.

"It’s important to preserve some of the few remaining wilderness areas that we have in Colorado," DeGette said during a telephone press conference on Thursday. "And we see a lot of support statewide for this."

She said that some wilderness boundaries in the bill have been amended following input from local communities. On the Dolores River Canyon portion, 1,870 acres were subtracted because it was discovered that an unmaintained road on Davis Mesa was included. Roadlessness is a criterion for wilderness.

DeGette said more time will be given for counties with proposed wilderness areas to generate community participation on the issue. Pressed by Colorado Counties Inc., DeGette said she will hold off on including 13 of the 23 counties with areas slated for wilderness under the bill to allow time for completing the public-hearing process.

Montezuma and Dolores counties are included in that list, said CCI spokesperson Leslie Oliver.

"Over the last year and a half we have been encouraging counties to hold public hearings on wilderness areas in their region and then pass resolutions on whether or not they support it," Oliver said, adding that they have until the beginning of summer to complete the hearings.

"It is a non-binding resolution because wilderness is a federal designation passed by Congress, but the idea is for communities and residents to have a voice in the process."

DeGette said she wants feedback from communities whose public lands may not fit the pristine criteria for wilderness, or for areas with management issues that could be limited by the strict wilderness designation. Despite those assurances, DeGette said she still intends to amend the bill on July 1 to include all of the 1.35 million acres, which studies show qualify for the protected designation.

Stiff opposition to the Wilderness Act by Republicans is inevitable.

"Some in Congress have a philosophical difference of opinion that cannot be changed, but the vast majority think that wilderness areas are the right thing to do," DeGette said. "With all of the pressures of growth, there is a real urgency to preserve these wild areas."

The public input and recommendation process encouraged by CCI has yet to happen in Montezuma or Dolores counties. Montezuma Commission Chairperson Kent Lindsay said Friday that the board has not discussed holding a public hearing on the wilderness issue yet, but would bring it up at Tuesday’s board meeting.

When DeGette’s bill was introduced last year, the commission expressed general opposition to it.

"(Wilderness areas) restrict public access too much," Lindsay said.

Dolores County has expressed interest in the public-hearing process, Oliver said, but officials said they needed more time to visit the proposed areas in the spring when they are more accessible.

Rep. Scott McInnis and other Republican legislators have been adamantly opposed to DeGette’s particular wilderness bill, mostly because it is too broad and unwieldy, said McInnis spokesman Josh Penry.

"Wilderness designations need to be looked at one at a time to insure they have community support," Penry said. "The congressman is deeply opposed because a lot of these areas do not have local consensus in favor of them and that is essential for any wilderness bill."

He added, however, that opposition to DeGette’s bill doesn’t necessarily mean that some areas listed do not deserve consideration for wilderness designation.

Commercial rafting companies, outdoor-gear shops and outfitters have expressed support for the bill statewide and locally.

"With a growing $10 billion recreation industry in the Western Slope of Colorado, this bill represents New West values and acknowledges the importance of setting aside unspoiled lands for future generations," said Tom Klema, owner of Peregrine River Outfitters.

Gareth Martins, publicist for Osprey Packs in Cortez, said having wilderness areas fits with the ethics of the company, "but community members who do not share support for such a cut-and-dried wilderness bill as this one need to be respected and listened to also."