H.R. 1728 protects approximately 92,000 acres across Colorado through wilderness designations, land acquisitions, and conservation withdrawals while balancing outdoor recreation with existing resource uses. The bill designates nearly 40,000 acres as new or expanded wilderness in the San Juan Mountains and Williams Fork area, expands the White River National Forest, and establishes Curecanti National Recreation Area covering about 50,300 acres as a new National Park System unit where boating, hunting, and fishing remain permitted. It withdraws the Thompson Divide area from oil, gas, and mineral leasing to protect its agricultural and recreational values while allowing leaseholders to trade their existing leases for credits toward federal leases elsewhere in Colorado and preserving existing coal mining and grazing rights. The legislation takes effect when the Secretary of the Interior approves the Curecanti agreement or one year after enactment (whichever comes first), requires completion of boundary surveys and a 10-year easement acquisition program, and protects tribal treaty rights and traditional uses throughout the protected areas.
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