News: Local

State needs to be saved, group says

By EUNICE MOSCOSO Cox News Service  WASHINGTON — A conservation group said Monday that Colorado is facing growth and development pressures that could destroy its distinctive character and visual beauty. The group — Scenic America — picked 10 "Last Chance Landscapes" across the nation which it says need to be rescued from possible destruc- tion. Colorado is the first entire state to make the list.  "Unplanned growth is overrunning rural landscapes and draining resources from America's cities and towns," said Meg Maguire, president of the Washington, D.C.-based group. "Since 1970, the nation has lost 31 million acres of farmland to developers."  Poorly designed roads and new strip malls are paving over historic towns; billboards litter the nation's roadsides; and wireless telecommunication towers puncture communities and scenic vistas, she said at a news conference.  The group decided to put Colorado on the list after concerned citizens from various parts of the state nominated different locations.  Endangered areas in Colorado include the 50-acre Austin Bluffs in the center of Colorado Springs, the group says. Development has already consumed the land north and east of the open space and is encroaching from the west.  "Our 50 acres have been totally surrounded now," said Steve Castle of the Austin Bluffs Conservation Association.  Castle, who was on hand for the Scenic America news conference, said further development plans are causing "immediate pressure."  "The good thing is the bulldozers haven't shown up yet," he said.  Other Colorado "endangered" locations include part of state Highway 12 from the junction with state Highway 160 to the top of Cuchara Pass; the Red Mountain Mining District on the San Juan Skyway; and the East Fork Valley, an undeveloped valley in the San Juan Mountains that sits in the heart of a wildlife corridor for many species, including elk and lynx.  Despite strong conservation movements in the state, Colorado voters overwhelmingly defeated a measure Nov. 7 that would have required growth management plans for many communities.  Opponents of the legislation had warned that caps on urban growth could mean limits on economic growth in general.  "Even though they defeated that ballot initiative, there is still an enormous amount of concern in the state and in the state legislature about how Colorado will grow," Maguire said.  The other "Last Chance Landscapes" include the Oakmont View property on the Verdugo Mountains in Glendale, Calif.; Ravalli County in Montana; the Upper Mississippi River Blufflands Region; State Highway 131 in Wisconsin between Ontario and Rockton; Erin Township, Wis.; Springfield, Ill.; Cooks Creek and Tributaries in Pennsylvania; Poplar Point in Washington, D.C.; and Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke Ranges in Western Massachusetts. To avoid further destruction of American landscapes, Scenic America recommends that state legislatures reform billboard laws, enact highway design standards that account for environmental and aesthetic impacts, and reinvest in older communities.  In addition, the group urges the federal government to give a tax credit to homeowners in historic districts to rehabilitate their properties and to enact the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, which would redirect federal offshore oil and gas royalties to a host of environmental and conservation programs.

The legislation passed the House but has not become law. Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell and other Republicans opposed the measure, which supporters say could bring more than $57 million to the state. Campbell said earlier this year that the bill "reeks of socialism" and that it allows the federal government to spend money without congressional approval. In addition, Campbell and other Western Republicans said the bill could give the federal government too much power to buy up private land and that it would take private property off the tax rolls without input from local communities.