Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act of 2025

Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act of 2025 would designate a broad set of federal lands in Gunnison County, Colorado, for new protective designations and targeted management. The bill creates multiple Special Management Areas (SMAs), Wildlife Conservation Areas (WCAs), Protection Areas, and Recreation Management Areas (RMAs); it also designates a Rocky Mountain Scientific Research and Education Area and adds several areas to the federal Wilderness system (as additions to existing wilderness areas). The overall aim is to conserve ecological, watershed, wildlife, recreational, and scenic resources while guiding how the land can be used, including limits on motorized and certain non-motorized activities and the need for management plans like winter travel plans. The act authorizes ongoing federal agency (Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management) authority and requires a collaborative planning approach, with protections “subject to valid existing rights.” It also modifies wilderness boundaries and withdrawals in some cases, and preserves specific trail development rights in a few instances. In short, the bill would significantly expand federally protected land in the Gunnison area, tighten management and use rules to protect natural resources, and create new areas for scientific research and education, while leaving open certain predetermined trails and development rights under specified conditions.