The Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act, introduced in Congress in May 2025, is bipartisan legislation that would permanently protect over 730,000 acres of public lands across Gunnison, Delta, Pitkin, Hinsdale, and Saguache Counties in western Colorado, including the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s 19,000-acre Pinecrest Ranch. Branded “Homegrown Conservation for the Gunnison Basin,” the bill grew from a decade-long, community-driven process beginning with the 2014 Gunnison Public Lands Initiative and a parallel North Fork Alternative Plan in Delta County.
The legislation creates a portfolio of designations—Wilderness Areas, Special Management Areas, Wildlife Conservation Areas, Protection Areas, and Recreation Management Areas—totaling roughly 600,000 acres, plus oil and gas withdrawals on over 74,000 acres and no-surface-occupancy restrictions on nearly 50,000 more. It preserves existing uses like ranching, grazing, hunting, fishing, and motorized and non-motorized recreation, while protecting headwaters, biodiversity, and climate resilience, and permanently securing public access to the Gunnison Forks boat ramp and continuation of the Gunnison Gorge motorized jet boat permit.
Economically, the bill supports ranching and agriculture in the North Fork Valley’s organic farming region and protects the tourism economy tied to outdoor recreation, which contributes billions to Colorado’s economy. It also pre-empts an anticipated 2026 BLM resource management plan amendment that could otherwise open watershed lands to energy development. Western Slope Conservation Center and partners will focus on connecting with leaders, continuing engagement with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and expanding support for this protection effort over the next year.
