On Monday, August 4th, Western Slope Conservation Center’s Executive Director, Hannah Stevens, took to the Gunnison river along with U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, former Delta County Commissioner Don Suppes, Gunnison County Commissioner Jonathan Houck, Delta County Administrator Robbie LeValley, BLM Deputy Southwest Director Rob Potts, BLM Gunnison Gorge River Ranger Rooster Barnhart, and Conservation Lands Foundation Southwest Associate Program Director Ben Katz to discuss the The Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act.
The GORP Act aims to permanently protect more than 730,000 acres of Public Land in the Gunnison Basin and North Fork Valley. GORP was introduced in the Senate in September of 2024 by senators Bennet and Hickenlooper. In May of 2025 Representative Hurd introduced the bill in the House. The Act is based on years of collaborative effort between a diverse range of stakeholders and has strong bi-partisan support from six counties, seven individual mayors and town or city councils, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, recreation and conservation groups, and local businesses.
The Delta County gathering highlighted the locally-driven solutions included in GORP which include an oil and gas withdrawal for public lands in the North Fork Valley, would ensure public river access at the popular Gunnison Forks boat ramp and allow the transfer of an existing special use permit for limited upstream jet boat access. The group had the opportunity to experience some of the unique beauty and recreation values in the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. From Pleasure Park, they traveled 4 miles up the Gunnison River to the confluence with the Smith Fork River, where they spoke about protecting our water resources, the importance of continued recreation access for both locals and visitors, and the years of community-driven stakeholder engagement that has culminated in the GORP Act.
This boat trip was an incredible opportunity to hear from many of the voices involved in GORP, to discuss its real-world implications, and to experience the lands it seeks to protect. Agreements such as this are a testament to the work put into GORP to create a bipartisan, mutually beneficial act for everyone from community members to business owners to counties at large. This is paramount in advancing efforts to keep our land and water protected for future generations.
WSCC thanks Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper, Representative Hurd and Delta County for their leadership on this important bill.
Learn more about GORP at the official GORP website, Senator Bennet’s website, and WSCC’s website.
Read about the River Trip at The Daily Sentinel.