Colorado Club Challenges Forest Plan

IMBA Trail News
Volume 12, Number 5
December 1999

The Summit Fat Tire Society organized a significant grassroots response and released a 25-page position paper this fall to respond to the proposed plan for the White River National Forest in central Colorado. The club, an IMBA affiliate with more than 180 members, promotes responsible mountain biking in Summit County, Colorado, where 80% of the land is managed by the USDA Forest Service. The White River proposed plan would close many cycling trails (see ITN Sept., '99)

Summit Fat Tire Society (SFTS) mixed support for the agency's conservation intentions with opposition to the proposed widespread trail closures. Their statement began, "SFTS believes that the theme of proposed Alternative D is commendable because a healthy forest is our community's greatest asset and the careful guarding of this asset is in the best interest of everyone."

This statement differs starkly from the positions adopted by most of Colorado's Congressional delegation, the governor, ski areas and motorized users, who are calling for total abandonment of the White River plan because of its proposals to limit human uses to protect forest health.

SFTS also endorsed the plan to allow cycling access only on designated trails, as opposed to the current rules that allow bikes to go virtually anywhere except Wilderness. But the group insisted that the agency use a much better designation process, which would thoroughly involve trail user groups.

SFTS carefully analyzed Alternative D (the Forest Service's "preferred" alternative) and discerned that it would close to bicycling about half of the 545 trails in the Dillon Ranger District (a management area which roughly coincides with Summit County). SFTS President Frank Celico explained that about 130 of those closures don't concern his group, because they are in Wilderness, or "are basically worthless trails, either overgrown, redundant, or logging spurs that go to nowhere. That leaves about 100 trails that concern us. SFTS has focused on about 45 trails that we believe are critically important. All 45 should be open."

The mountain bike group also commented on the timber cutting proposed in the Forest Service preferred alternative. " Alternative D has more logging than almost any other alternative, including the current forest plan. SFTS believes that the visual degradation and impact on users' enjoyment of trails is too much. Instead, SFTS is supporting the timber management ideas embodied in Alternative I, which rely on natural processes to revitalize the health of the forest," Celico said.

He also commented that the process of reviewing and commenting on the plan was "daunting," and credited his excellent volunteer board of directors and IMBA. IMBA will post the SFTS comment letter on our web site by mid-December.

SFTS organized a "mountain bikers' action alert meeting" which brought in 130 people, sent alerts to its membership , and thoroughly communicated with local elected officials and the Forest Service. Celico was interviewed by Denver's largest television station, largest radio station, and the Wall Street Journal.