Colorado Mountain Club
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Vol. 2 No. 2
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Spring has always been a time of new beginnings. And so it is here at CMC with the addition of a new Executive Director and renovation activities at the American Mountaineering Center.
The Conservation Program welcomes the Club's new Executive Director, John Juraschek. John brings with him a strong interest and commitment to our conservation efforts and we look forward to working closely with him to continue to build a powerful and influential Conservation Program!
The renovation of our building is fast under way and our new offices are
beginning to take shape. The word from above (literally) is that we should be
moving from the annex to upstairs in the Fall!
The office of Congressman David Skaggs has developed a roundtable discussion group, bringing muscle-powered recreation groups, and environmental/ conservation organizations together to develop a common mission and set of goals.
Congressman Skaggs wants to work with trail users and habitat conservation
organizations to address issues regarding public lands recreation and impacts
to the environment. The group aims to create an on-going discussion to address
the increase in the use of federal public lands by recreationists and the
ensuing change in management decisions and increased stress on the environment.
In February, CMC provided comments to the National Park Service on the Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect (EA) for the Fall River Gateway Visitor Center Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) Colorado.
The Park Service's preferred alternative proposes to build a $1 million 5,000 square foot visitor center on the former Rocky Mountain Village site at the Fall River Entrance.
The project which would be funded by H.W. Stewart Inc. and would become the first privately funded National Parks Service visitor center. In addition to the visitor center, the complex would include gift shops, restaurants, and lodge.
The CMC's main concerns are not with the visitor's center per se, but with the combination of the visitor center and the commercial development that would accompany it.
The CMC is concerned about the potential impacts of this project to the
Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep that use this area as winter range. This
population of bighorn sheep has already experienced a significant decline in
numbers. The CMC believes that the psychological stress of increased
development, and therefore increase in disease, would cause a further decrease,
if not the total demise, of this population.
In the last issue of Conservation Update, we reported that a January 1996 Record of Decision (ROD) called for access denial to all 4WD vehicles in the boggy area around the lake and to the end of the Como Lake Road, one half mile about the Lake. As of Labor Day, however, 4WD vehicles were still using this area freely. In January, 1997 the CMC sent a letter to the Forest Service requesting that this problem be remedied.
The Forest Service has responded, saying that the implementation of the ROD had to wait until funding could be planned and programmed. They are currently in the process of procuring the signs needed to implement the decision.
They hope to place the signs shortly after snowmelt and are in need of
volunteers to help. See the "Volunteer Opportunities" Section
of this newsletter.
(Adapted from an article by Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan )
Recent cases of snowmobilers trespassing into designated wilderness areas has caused the Forest Service to take a closer look at what the agency believes is an increasing problem.
The Wilderness Act of 1964 prohibits motorized vehicles from entering designated wilderness areas. The law considers the act's contents as a strict liability statute, meaning the responsibility of knowing where wilderness boundaries are located lies entirely with the users, according to an agency official. The maximum fine for such an offense is $5,000 and six months in jail.
At a meeting of National Recreation Directors last month, snowmobile trespass was identified as a serious problem in certain sections of the country. Steve Deitemeyer, the director of recreation for the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Region, said although the agency can't quantify the problem, it strongly believes the problem is increasing.
"I think we've always had this to some degree," said Deitemeyer, adding he didn't have numbers of tickets written for the offense in Colorado. " But it's grown because people have access to machines better built for the backcountry, cell phones, and avalanche transceivers which all give people more confidence to go into places where they traditionally would not have gone."
Jack Welch, executive director of the 4,500 member Colorado Snowmobiler Association, said Colorado has few problems concerning this issue.
"My best information indicates this is not a significant problem in Colorado," he said. "I have not been contacted by the U.S. Forest Service to indicate that it is. However, I recognize by nature that this can happen either on an accidental or deliberate basis. As an organized snowmobile group, we need to reiterate to our members to abide by the wilderness law."
The Forest Service has indicated the two areas in Colorado where the
violation appears to be most prevalent are the Mount Zirkel Wilderness between
Walden and Steamboat Springs and the Flat Tops Wilderness north of Glenwood
Springs.
The CMC Conservation Program has purchased a new multi-purpose exhibit. During the week of March 10, the exhibit made its debut at the Norwest Bank Plaza in Denver, as part of a Non-Profit Day celebration.
The exhibit featured information on the Conservation Program along with Leave No Trace Information. The exhibit also included general information on the CMC and the American Mountaineering Center.
The exhibit will be featured again on April 11, 12, and 13 at CMC's booth
at the Colorado Active Sports and Vacation Expo in Denver. We are currently
looking for volunteers to help staff the booth. See the "Volunteer
Opportunities" Section of this newsletter.
The White River National Forest has begun its Land and Resource Management Plan revision by asking for public input during a series of open houses in February and March.
The current Forest Plan was approved in September 1984. The White River is revising its current Plan for several reasons: 1) the information the Plan is based on now is out-of-date; 2) ongoing monitoring and evaluation has shown that the Plan does not reflect changes in management policy or recent developments in forest management; 3) the law requires Forest Plans to be revised at least every 15 years.
Based on experience in Forest Plan implementation and informal input from the public, the Forest Service has identified potential areas in the current Plan that need to be changed, as well as new areas that were not identified in the current Plan. These eight areas are: 1) biological diversity; 2) travel management; 3) urbanization; 4) recreation management; 5) roadless area allocation and management; 6) special area allocation and management; 7) allowable sale quantify/level of timber harvest; 8) wild and scenic rivers.
Public involvement is an ongoing process throughout the plan revision process. Future public involvement opportunities include: 1) field trips - Summer 1997; 2) scoping meetings - Fall 1997; 3) development of alternative - Winter 1998; 4) alternative review by the public - Spring 1998; 5) draft environmental impact statement - Summer/Fall 1998; 6) solicit public comments - Fall/Winter 1998/1999; 7) final environmental impact statement - Summer/Fall 1999.
For more information contact CMC's Conservation Director (303) 279-3080 or
the Forest Plan Revision Supervisor's office at (970) 945-2521.
(Adapted from an article by Erika Gonzalez, Rocky Mountain News)
Vail has cleared a major hurdle standing in the way of its $14 million expansion.
Local forest officials, who had been ordered in November to reexamine the impacts of the project because of an appeal by environmental groups (CMC did not join the appeal), decided in February that the expansion would not add to growth concerns in Vail and the neighboring communities.
"I remain convinced that the impacts of the project are manageable and that the project has served as an impetus to more aggressively deal with growth issues in a cooperative manner," said Sonny LaSalle, forest supervisor for the White River National Forest.
LaSalle said Vail could start construction on certain parts of the expansion as soon as July. But the Forest Service must amend the plan for the White River National Forest before the entire expansion can proceed, which could take several months.
The Land and Water Fund and Colorado Environmental Coalition, which had send a letter detailing the potential harmful results of the project, were disappointed with the decision.
"It's a bad deal," said Rocky Smith, forest ecology coordinator for the Coalition. "I feel sorry for the people who live up there."
The groups cannot appeal LaSalle's decision and haven't decided whether to sue the Forest Service in federal court.
Vail Resorts has not submitted a construction plan to the Forest Service yet, but spokesman Paul Witt said the company does plan to start construction this summer.
"We believe this project will be valuable for the community and we're glad
the Forest Service has made the decisions it has," Witt said.
(Adapted from an article by John Brinkely, Rocky Mountain News)
Congressman David Skaggs has introduced legislation designating most of Rocky Mountain National Park a federally protected wilderness area. Skaggs has introduced similar bills twice before.
The designation would not make any major changes in the park. Most of it is already managed as if it were wilderness; no development is allowed.
Skaggs' bill would designate 240,700 acres of northern Colorado park - 91% of its land area as wilderness.
"A wilderness designation is the only way to assure permanent protection for the wild lands in this spectacular park," he said. "We don't know what kind of commercial development pressures may arise and shouldn't leave the future of the park to chance. I don't want to see a concession stand on Longs Peak or new roads crisscrossing through the park."
Last week, Skaggs' request for a ban on commercial sight-seeing flights over the park was granted. The Federal Aviation Administration said any such flights would be barred indefinitely, while the FAA devises regulations addressing overflights at all national parks.
The wilderness bill would not affect any existing roads or developed areas
within the park.
CMC of course! National Trails Day is June 7 of this year and the entire month of June has been designated as Trails Awareness Month. The CMC Conservation Program will be involved in both of these special events this year.
First, on June 7 and 8 the State Conservation Committee will be joining the
Denver Group Council in a booth in the National Trails Outdoor Village at the
Capitol Hill People's Fair. The Conservation Exhibit will feature current
conservation activities and Leave No Trace education. We are seeking
individuals who can volunteer their time at the exhibit for 2-4 hours shifts
either or both days. See the "Volunteer Opportunities" section
of this newsletter for more information.
Our second
event will be an Adopt-a-Wilderness hike on June 29. This hike will be an all
day orientation hike of the Chicago Lakes Trail for potential volunteers to
perform future maintenance work. Participants will hike from Echo Lake to
Chicago Lakes, below the North face of Mount Evans, Trail #52. For more
information on this hike contact CMC's Conservation Director (303) 270-3080.
In December 1996 the Grand Mesa National Forest issued an environmental assessment for a proposal to amend the Grand Mesa National Travel Plan Revision. The preferred alternative in the EA could add as much as 100 miles of off-highway user routes to the current Travel Management Plan.
The 1994 plan revision reduced the miles of motorized routes from 700 to 400 miles and eliminated "go anywhere" off-road, summer travel across meadows, wetland areas, and other open areas. Off-route, motor travel enthusiasts charged that this plan was too restrictive and; therefore, unfair to them. The motorized recreationists filed several appeals.
The CMC formally objected to the amendment in February. CMC is concerned that adding more routes will make it difficult for muscle-powered recreationists to experience quite and solitude.
Additionally, CMC expressed concerns about the increased impacts to soils, wildlife, water quality, and vegetation that the addition of designated motorized routes could cause.
Many of the proposed routes in the amendment are "loop trails" which are
known to have significantly higher negative impacts to wildlife than
traditional "destination" trails.
As promised in the last edition of Conservation Update, we continue our series on the principles of conservation biology with a discussion of habitat fragmentation.
Habitat fragmentation occurs when a once-intact habitat (ecosystem) is fragmented into smaller sections. This fragmentation can occur by human-caused events such as roads, trails, developments, agriculture, or logging or natural events such as fire or flood.
When a habitat is fragmented, the amount of habitat edge that is exposed increases (edge-effect). This increase in edge begins a domino effect of interactions within the ecosystem that usually results in a decline in native species populations and communities.
Fragmentation is occurring, to various degrees, in nearly all of the major habitat types found throughout the world. These habitats include, in part, rain forests, hardwood and pine forests, grasslands, and wetlands. Collectively, all these habitat types continue to disappear. The remainder, in general, is consistently more fragmented and stressed by human encroachment. There are limits to this stress where we find organisms no longer able to survive in their ecosystem.
Organisms, when faced with stress, have three options: they can remain in the area and adapt to the changes; they can migrate to an area without the stress, or they can go extinct.
Can organisms adapt to habitat fragmentation and survive? The success varies with the species. Some animals, although very few, can survive well in close association with humans. These are usually generalist species, with flexible requirements. Examples include raccoons, starlings (a non-native species), and mallard. Most animals, however, cannot adapt. Their genetic programming has determined that they only are able to reproduce under specific conditions - conditions which are very exclusive of fragmentation and other human activity.
Can an organism migrate and avoid extinction? Again, this depends on the species. The common problem experienced by all species is that as adequate habitat becomes more scarce and fragmented, there are fewer areas to migrate to. A significant number of songbirds found throughout the U.S. are declining in number because of a lack of adequate nesting habitat. Also, many of these birds, when they return from the tropics during the spring, find the habitat they used last year no longer exists. Finally, road building, in addition to fragmenting habitat, interrupts the migration of many species of mammals and herptiles (frags, snakes, and turtles).
In the next issue of Conservation Update, we will discuss
non-native versus native species.
Don't allow noxious weeds to live in your neighborhood. What distinguishes noxious weeds from other plants is that they are not native to the United States. They grow unchecked by natural predators and enemies such as insects and diseases. In their native environment these forces prevent the weeds from taking over. In the absence of these elements, they can threaten native plants and ultimately, native animal communities.
A common characteristic of all noxious weed is their aggressive, competitive behavior. Typically, they steal precious moisture, nutrients, and sunlight from surrounding plants. Some wetland weeds even rob waterfowl and mammals of their food sources, nesting area, and access to water which they need for protection from predators. Noxious weeds establish themselves in soil disturbed by construction, travel, recreation, and the deliberate planting of "ornamental" lawn plants. Of the 1,300 native species of plants in Colorado, 130 or 10% have been displaced by non-native weeds.
What can you do to help stop this invasion? First, know your noxious weeds. Below is a list to get you started. Be able to identify these when you see them. Then do your best to eradicate any of these you may find in your lawn. Educate your neighbors on the threats of noxious weeds. Many of these weeds are lovely to look at, but not at the risk of our native Colorado environment!
Noxious Weeds and Invasive Plants of Colorado: Leafy Spurge, Canada Thistle, Bouncing Bet or Soapwort; Butter and Eggs or Yellow Toadflax, Chicory, Creeping Bellflower, Dalamation Toadflax, Dame's Rocket or Sweet Rocket, Dyer's Woad, Hound's Tongue, Japanese Knotweed or Buckwheat, Mediterranean Sage, Ox-eye Daisy, Purple Loosestrife, Queen Anne's Lace or Wild Carrot, Tansy, Canary Reed Grass, Russian Olive (Tree), Tamaisk or Salt Cedar.
For more information please contact the Colorado Weed Management
Association at (970) 229-0352 or visit their Web site at:
http://www.fortnet.org/CWMA/
April 11, 12, 13 - Colorado Active Sports and Vacation Expo. Currigan Hall - Denver
April 14 - Presentation by Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads - will describe the ecological effects of roads on wildland ecosystems; including such issues as the impacts of off-road vehicles. UMC, Room 159, CU Campus, 5:00PM - Boulder
April 15 - Same presentation as above. Hadley Branch Library, 7:30PM - Denver.
April 19 - CMC Conservation Committee meeting. CSU Campus, 10:00AM - Fort Collins.
Week of April 21 - Check your local media for Earth Day
events in your area!
If you would like to help out with any of the following events, please contact CMC's Conservation Director, Patti Biddle (303) 279-3080.
April 11, 12, 13 - CMC Exhibit - Colorado Active Sports and Vacation Expo. Currigan Hall - Denver
June 7 & 8 - National Trails day exhibit. Capitol Hill People's Fair - Denver
Spring/Summer 1997 - Install road closure sinage at Como
Lake
Return to the Conservation page.
Created by Patti Biddle. Last Modified April 20, 1997 by Keith Jensen .