The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Current plan is appropriate for now, Forest Service says
by Olivia Lueckemeyer
Despite pressure from some over-the-snow user groups to amend and update the current winter travel management plan for the Forest service drainages around Crested Butte, the Forest Service reiterated at a Gunnison County Board of County Commissioners meeting on February 9 that it would defer planning efforts for the Gunnison National Forest until 2019 or 2020.
It came to the Forest Service’s attention recently that certain non-motorized user groups were concerned about misuse by the motorized user community, prompting the desire for a new over-the-snow travel plan. However, Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest Service supervisor Scott Armentrout explained that since the drainages around Crested Butte are already compliant with the current rule, there would have to be a compelling reason to revise the plan already in place.
“Opening it up just creates different winners and losers,” Armentrout said. “We would need to see something advantageous; some type of consensus of changes that would be highly beneficial to users out there.”
Armentrout said that while he appreciates the concerns of people witnessing the misuse of non-motorized areas, a concrete agreement would need to be reached among the various user groups before the Forest Service would consider editing the current plan.
“The last process did produce a plan that has worked for a period of time, but there are definitely problems. It’s a big forest out there and there will always be certain challenges with that,” Armentrout explained. “That being said, what does the next thing look like and how do we get there? If someone comes up with a collaborative or brings us a proposal that the county helps with, we are more than happy to look at how we can accomplish that.”
Armentrout cited a lack of time and resources to deal with the perceived issue at this stage. The focus of the Forest Service right now, he said, is to ensure that the current plan is being executed according to the rules.
“We have a lot of other things we have to do at this time,” Armentrout said. “We still need to work on enforcement, signing and education where possible on the current decision, so that’s really the focus in the Crested Butte area. As far as an entire new process, we would need help on that.”
Commissioner Jonathan Houck sympathized with the Forest Service being pulled in multiple directions by different groups; however, he noted that certain users had expressed concern that their needs would not be prioritized when it came time to confront the issue.
“The biggest concern of folks who have expressed that they feel it is dire and urgent and needs to be addressed now—specifically the quiet use folks, know that it won’t happen this year, but come [2018] or [2019] something else will get in front of it and it will get pushed back,” Houck said. “The idea is they want to get in the queue now to make sure it happens from an agency perspective.”
Commissioner chairperson Paula Swenson reiterated the Forest Service’s position that a motion to amend the current plan would be only appropriate if multiple user groups could form a consensus.
“What I’m hearing from the agency is that if the community in full wants to get in the queue then we need more than quiet users at the table,” Swenson said. “We need all users to start working on it collaboratively at this point so that we can come together with something to push forward in ‘18, ‘19 or ‘20 that has broad support of all the users, not just one segment.”
“It’s getting there now, but at ‘18 or ‘19 we will be at critical mass, and so it’s as tough for us as it is for you to hear lots of different opinions and decide where the majority of folks stand,” Houck explained to Armentrout.
While the clock is not ticking to tackle this issue, Armentrout acquiesced, at any time another process can be initiated, but that would require major assistance from the county and constituents.
“Asking the Forest Service to lead something that controversial, we just don’t have the resources or the actual need. Taking on something like this, we would need help,” Armentrout said.
Armentrout was quick to note that the forest plan revision, which is being conducted now, will confront some of the concerns being raised by the public.
“There will be things in the forest plan that identify desired conditions for areas and will feed into over-the-snow travel planning that aren’t in our current plan, such as a recreation opportunity spectrum,” Armentrout said.
Commissioner Phil Chamberland said that while the timeline isn’t ideal for some groups, the required process to make any desired changes has its benefits.
“This creates an impetus for some of the user groups that didn’t have broad-based representation to coalesce together, to come to the table and say we need to represent ourselves if we want to avoid being railroaded,” Chamberland said. “If anything comes out of this, you’ll have a broad-based spectrum of the users and not just an organized few.”
