WASHINGTON -- Time is running out for proposed legislation protecting much of Rocky Mountain National Park. Congress has just days left in a lame-duck session, and Colorado's senators say passage this year is unrealistic.

Legislation to officially designate about 94 percent of the park as wilderness was first proposed in 1994, and Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., has introduced the bill every year since he took office in 1999.

He and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., thought they were finally poised to pass it this year after winning support from several communities surrounding the park. But progress was scuttled when Colorado Republicans Sen. Wayne Allard and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave introduced their own bill at the last minute.

Now, with Congress set to wrap up work by the end of next week, Colorado's lawmakers say they still have not negotiated a compromise.

"We're going to continue to try," Salazar spokesman Drew Nannis said. "But I think realistically (it will be) next year."

Allard is committed to working on it next year, spokeswoman Laura Condeluci said. "It's unlikely anything would go forward in the remaining days," she said.

One of the sticking points between the Republicans and the Democrats was whether to give liability protection to a company that operates the Grand River Ditch through the park.

Water Supply and Storage Co. has the rights to the ditch, one of Colorado's oldest transmountain canals.

Allard and Musgrave's bill would waive liability for future accidents that occur under normal maintenance. But Salazar and others have questioned whether the bill would also absolve the company of potential liability for damage to the park caused by a 2003 accident.

The government sued the Fort Collins water company earlier this year for damage caused when the ditch overflowed, scouring a mountainside and forcing the temporary closure of trails and campsites.

Both sides have pledged to work with the ditch company, but they still have not resolved the problem.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D2.