This legislation, known as the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, aims to conserve and manage significant federal lands across Colorado through various designations and programs. It is structured into four main titles, each addressing specific geographic regions and conservation objectives within the state.

Title I, Continental Divide, designates several new wilderness areas and additions, totaling thousands of acres, within the White River National Forest. It also establishes the Williams Fork Mountains as a potential wilderness area, with its final designation contingent on decisions regarding livestock grazing. Three new Wildlife Conservation Areas—Porcupine Gulch, Williams Fork Mountains, and Spraddle Creek—are created to protect wildlife, scenic, and ecological resources, with specific rules regarding motorized access and commercial timber harvesting, while allowing for fire and disease management.

Title II, San Juan Mountains, expands the National Wilderness Preservation System by adding land to existing wilderness areas like Lizard Head and Mount Sneffels, and designates the new McKenna Peak Wilderness. It establishes the Sheep Mountain and Liberty Bell East Special Management Areas, aiming to conserve their diverse resources while allowing certain pre-existing activities and bicycle use in specific corridors. This title also releases specific portions of the Dominguez Canyon and McKenna Peak Wilderness Study Areas from further wilderness review.

Title III, Thompson Divide, creates the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area, which prohibits new mineral leasing and other disposals to safeguard agricultural, wildlife, and recreational values. It introduces a program allowing oil and gas leaseholders to relinquish existing leases in exchange for credits for future federal lease payments. Additionally, it establishes the Greater Thompson Divide Fugitive Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot Program to inventory, lease, and encourage the capture or destruction of methane emissions from coal mines.

Finally, Title IV, Curecanti National Recreation Area, establishes this area as a new unit of the National Park System, encompassing approximately 50,300 acres. The area will be administered to allow for continued dam and reservoir operations, while also authorizing recreational activities such as boating, hunting, and fishing. The title outlines provisions for land acquisition, grazing, water rights, and tribal uses, and mandates the development of a general management plan for the newly designated recreation area.