The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Forest Service mapping discrepancies could delay agency review
By Alissa Johnson
A proposal to groom winter fat bike trails in area drainages is making its way through the Gunnison Valley for support.
The Board of County Commissioners is set to throw its support behind the project, which has been proposed by Crested Butte Mountain Biking Association (CBMBA). And though some mapping discrepancies may slow things down with the Forest Service, the agency’s review of the proposal is moving along.
“We’re a summer trails destination, so let’s be a winter trails destination,” Dave Ochs, CBMBA executive director, told the commissioners last week. “Besides Gothic, everything is already compacted areas, so instead of just leaving a snowmobile track, we’re leaving a trail so the person behind you has a better experience.”
The proposal is to groom 37 miles of winter trail in the Brush Creek, Cement Creek and Gothic Valley drainages as well as Snodgrass Mountain for multiple use. The Gothic corridor would not be opened to motorized use but an already well-used trail would be groomed.
Marlene Crosby, public works director for Gunnison County, told the commissioners that as far as the Forest Service is concerned, “They’re scoping and taking comments so they have not developed a position.”
John Murphy, district ranger, said that so far comments are generally supportive of moving forward. “It’s highly likely we would end up permitting it,” he told the commissioners, though he made the comment before some internal agency issues that could slow the process surfaced in the conversation.
In general, the commissioners and county were supportive of the proposal. Crosby did call attention to spring grooming in Brush Creek, where activity could force wildlife to higher elevations or impact agriculture. The proposal calls for grooming through the beginning of April. Aaron Drendel, Forest Service recreation staff officer, pointed out that the Grand Traverse takes place around the last weekend of March every year in that same area. The timing would be consistent.
Commissioner Phil Chamberland suggested that some attention be given to the Cement Creek winter trailhead, where snowmobilers have indicated that parking can already be an issue. He suggested signs to keep one section free of vehicles so there would be room to turn around if parking near the trailhead filled up.
Ochs pointed out that bikers would be unlikely to contribute to greater congestion. “For the most part, bikers bike to the trailheads. In theory, there’s less impact on the road and again, fat bikes can ride on the dirt and ride on the snow, so that hopefully alleviates a problem instead of exacerbating it.”
“That could be an economic amenity to Crested Butte South,” commissioner Paula Swenson said, to which Chamberland and commissioner Jonathan Houck pointed out that you can get coffee and beer there.
“[There could be] some kind of parking lot to start your biking there… Start with your coffee and end with your beer, so I think there’s a lot of opportunity,” Swenson continued.
Houck was happy to see so many letters of support for the project, and Chamberland pointed out that it was the first time he had seen Gunnison Valley Health comment on support for a trail project.
Drendel did remind the commissioners that the Forest Service is still collecting comments through November 18, and it would be premature to consider the proposal a done deal. There are also some internal discussions that need to happen regarding discrepancies between maps for the areas.
According to Drendel, the Gothic corridor, Brush Creek and Cement Creek are considered snow trails in the agency’s existing database and mapping, but they are not included in a snow compaction map, which is off in a variety of ways.
“Somehow in the snow compaction map that [the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)] keeps, that map is really off in general. It’s not even close to what’s going on out there,” he said.
The FWS may need to be consulted because some of the grooming takes place in lynx habitat, and that might require resolving the map issue. Murphy, who had not yet heard of the discrepancy, admitted that it could result in a significant delay.
Nevertheless, the county is moving forward with support for the project. A letter of support and county permitting for access to county roads were both adopted on November 2.
