Colorado Wilderness Act of 2026

Overview

• Bill: HR 7425
• Session: 119th Congress
• Title: Colorado Wilderness Act of 2026
• Purpose: Designate numerous lands in Colorado as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) and affirm related protections, while establishing specific management, water, and access provisions.

Main purpose and intent

• To designate a large set of lands in Colorado as wilderness areas, converting them into federally protected components of the NWPS.
• To add new wilderness areas (and some additions to existing Wilderness designations) across multiple national forest lands, BLM districts, and national parks within Colorado.
• To address water rights and midstream water concerns in connection with wilderness designations, ensuring protections for water resources and outlining how water rights would be managed.
• To outline administrative, grazing, access, and potential future wilderness designations (potential wilderness) provisions.

Key provisions and changes

Additions to the NWPS (Section 2)

• Adds a long list of new wilderness designations, including:

  • Bull Gulch Wilderness (approx. 20,171 acres)
  • Castle Peak Wilderness (approx. 19,033 acres)
  • Maroon Bells–Snowmass area addition (312 acres incorporated into the Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness)
  • Redcloud Peak Wilderness (approx. 38,176 acres)
  • Handies Peak Wilderness (approx. 26,557 acres)
  • McIntyre Hills Wilderness (part of Table Mountain & McIntyre Hills area; 17,213 acres)
  • Grand Hogback Wilderness (approx. 11,291 acres)
  • Flat Tops Wilderness addition (16,305 acres)
  • Demaree Canyon Wilderness (25,897 acres)
  • Little Book Cliffs Wilderness (29,045 acres)
  • Dolores River Canyon Wilderness (56,206 acres)
  • Sewemup Mesa Wilderness (39,919 acres)
  • Other named additions across multiple field offices (e.g., Cross Canyon, Bug Canyon, McKenna Peak, North & South Bangs Canyon, Palisade, Unaweep, Norwood Canyon, Weber–Menefee Mountain, North & South Ponderosa Gorge, Browns Canyon, San Luis Hills, Table Mountain, and more)

• Additional details:

  • Some areas are already designated wilderness or part of existing wilderness areas; these acts incorporate and extend those boundaries or designate linked lands as wilderness.
  • West Elk Addition: West Elk Wilderness boundary description adjusted with a 50-foot landward buffer from Blue Mesa Reservoir, and a potential boundary revision if Blue Mesa Reservoir expands.

Designations as wilderness (Section 2 and 3)

• Section 2 also includes a group of lands designated as wilderness (on map depictions with specific acreages and named Wilderness designations).
• Section 3 (Administrative provisions) defines how wilderness lands will be managed and by whom (Secretary acting under the Wilderness Act and this Act; references to Interior/ Agriculture Secretaries as appropriate).

Water and water rights (Section 4)

• Water rights protections: Waters within designated wilderness areas are governed to ensure preservation of wilderness values and to protect aquatic and riparian ecosystems.
• The Secretary must pursue, adjudicate, and administer water rights as needed, with a preference for state-based processes but with federal oversight to ensure wilderness purposes are fulfilled.
• Procedural and priority considerations:
  • Water rights are to be adjudicated under state procedures unless the Secretary opts to pursue Federal instream flow rights to secure necessary flows.
  • A deadline: The Secretary must pursue appropriate water rights promptly, but no earlier than January 1, 2027.
  • Cooperative arrangements with the Colorado Water Conservation Board are encouraged to ensure state rights are sufficient to fulfill wilderness purposes; if not, the Secretary may adjudicate Federal rights.
• Prohibition on new water development: Beginning on enactment, the President or federal agencies may not fund or authorize new irrigation, reservoirs, aqueducts, pipelines, or similar water facilities within the wilderness areas designated by section 2(b).

Access, use, and maintenance (Section 4 and 3)

• Access to water resource facilities within designated wilderness areas is allowed where necessary and consistent with wilderness purposes.
• Existing routes and facilities can be maintained, repaired, and used to the extent they do not increase adverse impacts beyond what existed at enactment.
• Grazing: Livestock grazing, where allowed under the Wilderness Act, will be managed under existing 4(d)(4) allowances and related guidelines.
• State jurisdiction: Colorado retains wildlife and fish management authority; the act does not modify state jurisdiction over these resources.

Potential wilderness designations (Section 3)

• Establishes process for potential wilderness areas (Deep Creek, Pisgah East/West) with timelines tied to nonconforming uses ceasing. Once certain nonconforming uses cease, these areas would be designated as wilderness via Federal Register notice.
• Management of potential wilderness areas would follow Wilderness Act guidance pending designation.

Who/what is affected

• Lands: Large swaths of BLM and Forest Service lands across multiple Colorado counties and forest units are designated or designated as additions to Wilderness.
• Administrative bodies: Secretary of the Interior or Secretary of Agriculture will administer designated lands; coordination with state authorities (Colorado) remains intact for wildlife, fish, and water resources.
• Water rights holders: State and Federal water rights within or across designated wilderness areas, with a framework for adjudication and enforcement to protect wilderness values.
• Local communities and landowners: Private lands within wilderness boundaries may be incorporated if acquired by the United States; existing rights and uses are subject to Wilderness Act guidelines.

Procedural and timeline aspects

• Enactment: The act establishes new wilderness designations and related provisions upon passage.
• Maps and descriptions: The Secretary must file maps and boundary descriptions with both the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources after enactment.
• Water rights timeline: The Secretary must promptly pursue water rights, with a specific milestone of not earlier than January 1, 2027 for appropriations and adjudication activities.
• West Elk boundary updates: Provisions include adjustable boundaries if future Blue Mesa Reservoir expansion is planned.
• Potential wilderness: designation depends on cessation of nonconforming uses and Federal Register notices, enabling staged or conditional designations.

Note: The bill’s detailed acreages, named wilderness units, and map titles are provided in the text and would be final upon enactment and map filing.