BLM’s Hartman Rocks plan getting a new look

BLM reviews; dealing with potty problems

With the recent blast of snow, it’s hard to imagine dusting off the mountain bike. But soon, skis will be traded for wheels, and bikers will descend upon Hartman Rocks Recreation Area. So will hikers, runners, campers and marksmen, and the Bureau of Land Management’s Gunnison Field office is getting ready for them by revisiting the recreation area’s management plan.

“The current plan is a great trail management plan, [but it only] loosely talks about human use impacts,” said Kristi Murphy, outdoor recreation planner at the BLM Gunnison Field Office. “[Hartman’s] is getting so much use that we can’t ignore those impacts anymore.”
According to Murphy, an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 visitors use Hartman Rocks during the summer months. And with people come soil compaction, parking issues, and what Murphy calls “potty problems”—human waste on top of Hartman’s. Alternative management plans will consider the addition of more latrines and additional methods to mitigate human impact while still serving the public’s recreational needs. Of particular concern is the shooting area.
“There’s a lot of what I call recreational shooting,” Murphy said. “People go out and shoot in different areas, and they don’t realize there’s a trail just around the corner.”
But according to BLM Gunnison Office field manager Brian St. George, the updated management plan will not seek to eliminate any uses. Rather, the BLM will assess the best way to balance marksmanship with other recreational uses.
“We are not thinking of eliminating [recreational shooting]. There is a real niche and demand for it. The question is how we can better meet that demand to lesson any risk,” he told the Gunnison County commissioners at a February 21 meeting.
In many ways, the need to revisit the management plan is simply the result of multiple recreational uses converging in the same area. Amending the management plan will allow the BLM’s management practices to evolve with public use of a high profile and well-loved area.
Already, the success of Hartman Rocks has been a community-wide effort. The BLM presented its 2010 Volunteer of the Year Award to the Hartman Rocks User Group—outdoor enthusiasts ranging from mountain bikers to ATV riders. Field office manager St. George has credited them with contributing the equivalent of $34,000 worth of time to critical roles, like conducting management scoping meetings to inform the new plan, coordinating youth service days and completing trail maintenance.
The public will continue to be a vital part of maintaining Hartman’s vitality. The BLM is currently considering input gathered during a public review period in February, and the agency expects to make the alternative management plan available for public review at the end of April.