Hello Summit County Off Road Riders! YOUR SPORT NEEDS YOU !!!! This Thursday night December 6th from 5:30pm to 8:30pm is a special meeting of the Snake River Planning Commission at the Dillon Town Hall at 275 Lake Dillon Drive in Dillon CO 80435. This meeting is to gage public opinion regarding our proposal for the motorized singletrack trail system on Tenderfoot Mountain. While this is a Snake River Planning Commission meeting, it will be attended by the Summit County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and representatives from the Forest Service. The BOCC is fighting our project and they are looking for ways to block it. They need to see we want this project and that we believe that this project will be good for our county and that it is well designed to not destroy the environment. The EA is available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/whiteriver - search Tenderfoot EA - please review it before the meeting so you can provide informed comments. We need to attend in large numbers and be visible. Please wear a moto jersey so everyone can see your support to the project. There is strength in numbers The BOCC is putting together their ideas and concepts for their formal written response to the Forest Service after this meeting. Currently, they are strongly opposed to our proposed trail system. Our goal is to get them to at least soften their resistance. The White River Forest Supervisor will be making his final decision on our proposal in about late January and he would like the BOCC to not be so against this project if he is to approve it. We are down to the wire. Please attend, be seen, and be counted! Chuck Ginsburg - Chairman SCORR - Summit County Off Road Riders COHVCO Central Colorado Area Representative 970-390-5600 chuckginsburg@comcast.net I may attend, however, it will be very difficult for me to curb my disdain for the BOCC. And the Nature nazis that refuse to believe there's enough terrain for all users!!!! Town of Dillon has ( in the past) closed a trail illegally on forest service property. Strength in numbers...
I just went to the open house, discussed the project and proposals with several USFS employees, and I thought the situation was pretty good. There are acknowledgements that there may be a small impact to the lynx which may force them to use alternate paths for some migrations in the summer months. But the impact is small. If all goes to plan, there will be a new enforcement officer to make sure that motos stay on the trails, have stickers, and are not excessively noisy (one of my pet peeves). I will try to make it the to BOCC meeting tomorrow as well, but it looks like I need to do some reading beforehand to get my thoughts in order to speak intelligently on the issue. Hope to see some of the other SUMMIT folks there... Phil
working nights sucks! call the summit county commissioners and respectfully comment! On your thoughts! please Dan Gibbs, Chair District 1 (970) 453-3411 Thomas C. Davidson District 2 (970) 453-3413 Karn Stiegelmeier District 3 (970) 453-3412
You might try to volunteer for the Stay The Trails Program and use thier resources to to work in concert with the local authorities in educating the public about proper trail use. I volunteered for this program and will be canvassing the western slope come spring. Since I am new to this, I suggest that someone call them to see what they might suggest.
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20121205/NEWS/121209927/1078&ParentProfile=1055 Public input is requested as disagreements mount between Summit County officials and the U.S. Forest Service on motorized use on Tenderfoot Mountain that would allow 21 miles of recreation terrain. The proposed project, located in the Dillon Ranger District at the juncture of the Straight Creek and Frey Gulch trailheads, would create an approximately 21-mile singletrack system including 13 miles of new trail construction and approximately 8 miles of reconstruction and rehabilitation of existing trails. The Forest Service released an environmental assessment of the area Nov. 17 with its decision to allow the proposal to move forward to best manage the area for recreators. Summit officials and residents have voiced concern over the proposed system's impact on wildlife and noise disturbance to close-by residents. The trail system would offer a winding trail less than 5 percent in steep grade with challenging, narrow, rocky and winding areas, said Ken Waugh, recreation staff officer for the Dillon Ranger District. The project is currently in a 30-day comment period that ends Dec. 17. The county and the Forest Service are seeking public input on the trail system to adequately identify the demand for the track. This week, both entities are hosting opportunities for the public to get involved in the comment period. An open house on the trail system will be today from 2-6 p.m. at the Dillon Ranger Station in Silverthorne. Additionally, a special meeting of the Snake River Planning Commission has been scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Dillon Town Hall. The public meetings will allow citizens to voice their opinions on the proposed trail system. Impasse on the fate of proposed system The county has voiced opposition of the system on behalf of citizens opposed to having motorized use in the area. Overwhelmingly we've heard from the community at large that residents support recreational uses on Tenderfoot Mountain being limited predominantly for non-motorized use, said Kate Berg, Summit County senior planner. As we were going through the review process, the public and the planning commission noted some significant concerns with the proposal that had to do with impact on wildlife, the noise impeding on wildlife and residents in the surrounding area and issues with the Forest Service's ability to monitor the trail system, Berg said. According to the Forest Service, the trails would be patrolled by Summit County Off-Road Riders as part of the Trail Ambassador program with the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District. Volunteers would patrol the trails by motorcycle and speak to other recreators about forest stewardship with an emphasis of staying on the trail. The trail system would also be patrolled by forest protection officers, with one patrol during the week and one during weekends. At the start of the system, at the juncture of the Straight Creek and Frey Gulch trailheads, a Stay the Trail education trailer would be present two times per year, according to the education and law enforcement plan for the project. But per the White River National Forest Travel Plan implemented by the county, motorized recreation is not allowed in the area. The county recommended that motorized singletrack not be permitted in that area and just be limited to the historic roads. What we were wanting to continue to allow is access on those roads for hunters and people camping, Berg said. The proposed motorized trail has been a contentious issue. User-made trails have developed from multiple users over time, creating an unmanaged system, according to Waugh. Containing the area and rehabilitating unsustainable trails is the goal of the Forest Service. We're aware of the opposition from the county and we're trying to work toward a compromise, but we may have to agree to disagree, said Peech Keller, with the Forest Service. The Forest Service and the county are serving two different causes and have very different constituents. Through the environmental assessment, Forest Service officials said the impacts have been minimized. You can't do anything without having an impact we feel we've reduced the impacts of this project to a very reasonable level, Keller said. I think we've done a good job identifying the issues and I believe it's possible to come to a compromise. If necessary, we will return to take another look at the environmental analysis. Keller said there is demand for the system and management is the Forest Service's goal in creating a venue for motorized recreators. There's a huge group of people who want this proposal to go through, Keller said. We serve all of the users of this type of system a lot of them live in the county. We're trying to best serve our constituents. For users of current motorized trails, the motorized recreation group has limited legal terrain to utilize, according to Chuck Ginsburg, chairman of Summit County off Road Riders. We need a place to ride legally, a significant area in Horseshoe Gulch has been closed, it's down to six miles of legal motorized designated trail, Ginsburg said. How many trails are dedicated to biking and hiking or walking? Motorized recreators don't have many options. Ginsburg said SCORR identified Tenderfoot Mountain as the project area because that's the only area that made sense to have a motorized system. He added the trail would likely be used predominantly by local recreators. I think the Forest Service did a great job identifying the issues, Ginsburg said. They've taken great steps to evaluate the environmental impacts and the I think it's a great plan that's been well thought out from the beginning.
Please take a few minutes to write a well-considered response to Steve Lipsher's opinion piece printed in today's Denver Post: Another choice excerpt:
Lipsher: " Over the years, renegade dirt bikers have churned up 23 miles of illegal trails on Tenderfoot Mountain near Keystone, girding sagebrush hillsides and forest floors with a tangled braid of knobby tire tracks. Now, White River National Forest officials appear ready to reward those very scofflaws with a dedicated 21-mile trail network in the same area, carving out new routes even as they close off the entrenched illicit ones." Take that you rewarded renegade scofflaw dirt churners.
So, two questions: 1)Did an MVUM exist 23 years ago? 2)Was the forest, like many others considered "open" unless "closed"? I don't know...just curious. I am sure the mad max, evil, renegade...dirt bikers will chime in.