Update on NoCo trail closures YOU CAN HELP!

[ILuvtheMountains]

Not sure if this is the rightarea to post this thread. But anyway, I emailed the canyon Lakes Ranger office to ask about the status of trails in Northern Larimer County and stated what I heard about closures of ALL canyon lakes trails for the summer. Following was the response I got. We need to make sure we have people, lots of them, there to make sure these proceedings are handled fairly for all those who use the public lands.

Good morning and thank you for your inquiry,


It sounds like some clarification is needed regarding the damage on the ground and what the USFS's plans for repairs are. Please be assured that the USFS is not closing areas that don't have flood damage. On the other hand, the flood damage was widespread and there are many, many roads and trails affected. In some cases the damage is localized and the trail may appear intact, but in fact has one or more areas that have been severely impacted. The USFS is responsible in these instances--not only for preventing further resource damage--but also for public safety. In many cases, the county rescue and emergency service providers are unable to respond to these flood-damaged areas in the event of an accident.


There will still be opportunities for OHV riders on the CLRD. I know, for instance, that the Green Ridge Trail System was not impacted and will open this summer. I also know that some trails will receive repairs early in the season (such as Kelly Flats).


Canyon Lakes Ranger District has an upcoming public meeting on May 20th that will focus specifically on recreation information (such as OHV access) and volunteerism. There will be representatives from both Canyon Lakes Ranger District and the Forest's 7-person Flood Recovery Team there to listen to concerns, answer questions and share information about sequencing of repair projects. We would love to have good representation from your OHV group and to hear your ideas! Please encourage your friends to come, and don't hesitate to contact me with any further questions/concerns.


Here is the information for the upcoming meeting:
When: May 20th, from 5-7 PM
Where: Canyon Lakes Ranger District
2150 Centre Ave, Bldg E
Fort Collins, CO 80526


Looking forward to talking with you in the future,


Jane Gordon
Flood Community & Partnership Liaison
Flood Recovery Team
Arapaho Roosevelt National Forests
Phone: 970-295-6843
Fax: 970-295-6795






-----Original Message-----
From: tsteeleco@gmail.com [mailto:tsteeleco@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 12:11 AM
To: FS-ARP Public Affairs
Subject: WWW Mail: 4x4 trails near Fort Collins

[Jim]

Thanks.

I should be there for the first 30 / 40 minutes of it.

[Tom]

Shared on Fort Collins Wheelers.

[ctracy5]

Dang, I will be in Moab, hoping to have some good news when I get back from this meeting.

[Myrtle Turtle]

Has anyone attended one of these before? Do they usually end on time? I might be able to make it if it doesn't go over too much later.

[ILuvtheMountains]

Not sure but these sound like special sessions. I'm sure your presence at any point at the meeting would be impactful. Perhaps we should bring notepads so that we can collect comments/questions so that even if people can't stay the whole time they can still be heard by others who can stay.

[ILuvtheMountains]

Anyone going to the meeting tonight to fight for our right to wheel?
When: May 20th, from 5-7 PM
Where: Canyon Lakes Ranger District
2150 Centre Ave, Bldg E
Fort Collins, CO 80526

[Jim]

Thanks for the head's up - I would have missed it!

I have a meeting at 6p but can be there until about 5:40p

[ILuvtheMountains]

Anyone who can come, even for a portion of the meeting, should come. The greater the presence we have, the more we let them know that this is important to us.

[ILuvtheMountains]

On my way. Please join us!

[Jim]

Travis and I were at the meeting last night. The format was a "walkaround" with displays with FS staff nearby to talk.

This URL is supposed to have two large maps of trail work, temporary closures and permanent closures. The permanent closures, though minimal, garner my interest. (the URL is currently not working for me)

www.fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/floodrecovery

When Kelly Flats was discussed, it seems the western end is the issue. FS already had funding for the eastern section of the western end of the trail but the rains caused issue with a significant portion of the western end. They're now looking to combine the existing funds with (more funds?) for the "grand plan" for Kelly. When asked what the grand plan was... They're looking to upgrade the parking area at the eastern end. Gravel parking area with an off-loading ramp for pickups that have 4x4's on them. A large item is water diversion for the parking area - to not have water gulleying the area.

Sevenmile Creek - not much info available. There were a couple ladies there (4x4ers) who were not happy that Sevenmile was closed.

Pole Hill - the two washouts and one "slump" area. No firm, specific "we're going to do this" comment, but rather a general comment of leaving a low area for water to flow with the trail following a higher ground area. In "the meadows" washout area of Pole Hill, this plan sounds easy. For the lower washout, I'm not sure what they'll do. As for the slump, a comment was, if a 4x4 can negotiate it, we'll leave it for the 4x4's to negotiate.

Old Flowers Road - A contractor has been selected. There are washout areas that can't be reconstructed so the trail is being re-routed.

I have two paper documents that list trails and their general order of work (not in the image set of this post). Of note is that many trails will be reconstructed with FS staff and that staff is hitting the high damage / important areas first (Storm Mountain area) and working down the list. There are additional crews available for this work. Near the bottom of the list are "contracted" trails - those that will be contracted out. Those trails could potentially be completed quickly as once the contract is set the work could start (my hope).

I'll post photos of some of the placards and a bit from the two big maps. I am hoping the two big maps will be on the URL (staff said they would be "shortly").

[Jim]

Map info...

[alexb]

So Dry St. Vrain and Gillespie Gulch are on the permanent closure list. Anything else?

Dry St. Vrain was short and close to town. What was Gillespie Gulch like?