The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It’s not just about trails. It’s bigger than that.”
By Alissa Johnson
As summer approaches—and with it throngs of backcountry users—the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association is swinging into action. Executive director Dave Ochs has begun to rally troops across the Gunnison Valley in support of a Crested Butte Conservation Corps with trail crews dedicated to caring for the backcountry and encouraging stewardship.
“We’re considering it a backcountry revival and trail care crew,” Ochs said at the April 4 Mt. Crested Butte Town Council meeting. “And I don’t mean revival as in getting the Allman Brothers and Jefferson Airplane back to play here, I mean a revival defined as an improvement in the condition or strength of something.”
Ochs referenced the many challenges of summer use as the impetus, from trail erosion and braiding to abandoned and littered campsites to human feces. He said a cleanup day in the Slate River Valley last year yielded more than 100 bags of trash, and the year before, Crested Butte made The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction for being a “madhouse” in the backcountry. The article featured photos of a pile of trash in the wilderness and a vehicle driving off the road through a field of skunk cabbage to get around a traffic jam.
“We know what summers look like. It’s difficult to go into the backcountry, and a lot of locals won’t even go out Slate or Gothic in July,” Ochs said. Yet he emphasized that much of it could be addressed. Had someone been there to guide the car before its driver drove through the skunk cabbage, the situation could have been prevented. “This can be solved very simply.”
Enter the Crested Butte Conservation Corps: two crews of three including a trail leader for each crew. They’ll be trained to handle everything from trail restoration and maintenance to intervening at bandit campsites and heavily congested areas where drivers need some guidance, like Emerald Lake.
And when they hit the ground—which Ochs hopes will be in May, or June 1 at the latest—they’ll do everything from pick up trash and hand out doggie bags to removing tree blow-downs.
The plan is to have the crews on duty six days a week, with the seventh day covered through a partnership with Mountain Manners, a separate group focused on educating backcountry users.
“It’s not just about trails, it’s bigger than that,” Ochs said. The proposal for the Conservation Corps outlines six key points as part of its mission and purpose, all of which focus on providing great backcountry experiences, stewardship of the land, and maintaining relationships between different user groups.
“Our goal: to provide better experiences for those who follow [us], and leave our backcountry better than we found it,” the proposal reads.
The conservation corps will fall under CBMBA, and the budget is projected to be $75,000. CBMBA is contributing $20,000. The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), GOATS (the Gunnison Valley O.H.V. Alliance of Trailriders), and the Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce have all pitched in $1,000. Big Mountain Enduro, a mountain bike race series with a stage in Crested Butte, is contributing $1,500.
That leaves just over $50,000 to be raised, and Ochs and the CBMBA board of directors hope that Mt. Crested Butte, Crested Butte and Gunnison County will step up to the plate. Ochs asked the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council for $20,000 and plans to do the same in Crested Butte.
Ochs pointed out that 86 percent of Gunnison County is open space, with more than 450 miles of trail in the north end of the valley alone. But the Forest Service—which already has what he called a “major problem” with enforcement on the ground—is looking at 20 percent budget cuts or more.
“We’ve got issues. The Forest Service is not there to take care of our precious resources,” Ochs said.
He also pointed out that two federal land agencies, two towns, the state, and a variety of nonprofit groups, from the Crested Butte Land Trust to RMBL, all act within and influence the backcountry. Yet there is only one trail group in the north end of the valley.
“It’s time we invest in our backyard. If we don’t do it now, we’re going to lose it. We’re going to lose our soul, what we all love and why we’re here,” Ochs said. He asked the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council for a letter of support and a $20,000 contribution.
“I know it’s not a normal ask. We’re grateful for the opportunity to come in front of you guys,” he said.
Councilmembers were amenable to the idea but wanted guidance from staff as to where the funds might come from. Town finance director Karl Trujillo said there is an impact fee fund that could be a source. Town attorney Kathy Fogo did not think the funds could come from the Admissions Tax Grants, which are earmarked for marketing.
Ochs wondered if there was some kind of emergency fund available. ”I think this is an emergency we have to attend to, and if we don’t we’re going to have problems,” he said.
Ultimately, the council decided it needed more time to investigate the funding source, but voted to allow mayor Todd Barnes to sign a letter in support of the project in the meantime.
“You already know that you have that way of magnetizing me toward your efforts,” councilmember Danny D’Aquila said. “I would like to make sure the town investigates all avenues of funding for CBMBA.”
“Thanks for putting this together, Dave,” councilmember Nicholas Kempin added. “This is an urgent need and a huge gap. It’s a shame you guys have to come up with a way to deal with this, but it is so important and so urgent, so I’m glad you guys did. So I would, as Danny mentioned, hope in the next month we can figure something out to support this.”
No indication was given as to the amount of a Mt. Crested Butte contribution.
