The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
They agree on panoramic big picture, but differ on smaller snapshot
by Toni Todd
Gunnison County commissioners agree that efforts to lessen the pressure on the local backcountry during the summertime are warranted. But they differ somewhat on how they should devote county resources to support those efforts.
The commissioners have acknowledged the success of the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association (CBMBA) and its new Conservation Corps. CBMBA has raised about $80,000 to fund two well-trained crews for their inaugural year. The Wildflower Festival’s Mountain Manners and Peak Protector programs are also under way to help educate backcountry users through enhanced education.
From the county standpoint, commissioners are looking at the overall picture with a wider-angle lens that goes beyond the north end of the valley. They all agree an immediate priority is the creation of a Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Strategic Committee (STOR). It’s an idea that sprang from conversations during the One Valley Prosperity Project process.
Commissioner Jonathan Houck explained that the STOR Strategic Committee’s purpose, as he envisions it, is to come up with concrete measures to help the county manage the impacts of outdoor tourism. That way, he said, “Our outdoor tourism impacts can be funded in a thoughtful, equitable, county-wide way that casts a big net in protecting the thing that brings folks here to bike, hunt, hike, fish, moto, ski, camp, etc., and that is the natural world and abundant public lands we love and need to protect here in Gunnison County.”
Commissioner Phil Chamberland said he feels getting the committee up and running is the most important contribution the county can make, as it takes into account the need to develop sustainable tourism and recreation countywide. “The timeline for the Strategic Committee is to get a game plan and format by this fall,” he said, ”outline appointees to the committee and start in earnest this winter. Staff is working on the details and should bring us an update sometime this summer.”
Chamberland suggested that, considering the CC is already fully funded, the county’s focus should be trained on that bigger picture. Commissioners Houck and John Messner, however, expressed interest in contributing now to current efforts or projects. “I wanted to be sure if [the CC] went over their anticipated cost or had a potential beneficial project, that they felt comfortable coming to the county and asking if we could help out. I suggested we keep $5K of the commissioners’ discretionary funds set aside into the fall, anticipating an opportunity to help get a few more projects across the finish line with the CC,” said Houck.
Messner suggested the idea of setting aside $20,000 as a grant fund, to be made available to any group in the county doing work or proposing a project that addresses backcountry issues. He said the main reason it hasn’t been discussed further since he initially proposed the idea is because commissioners felt it was important to have the county manager included in the discussion.
Chamberland doesn’t view the grant as a priority expenditure, especially in light of how well funded the CC already is for this summer. “I don’t see the county creating a grant fund for trails organizations any time soon,” said Chamberland. “We will spend our energy putting together the [Sustainable Tourism] Recreation Strategic Committee and using this committee to help us with a strategic direction that will help enhance recreation throughout the Gunnison Valley. I suspect that trails will be a large part of that.”
Houck, however, said he likes Messner’s idea. “One,” he said, “it takes county dollars and puts them towards certain projects and my big desire is that our money could be leveraged to access other funds. Could our money be used as a cash match in other grants or as seed money to leverage other opportunities?”
Of course, the formation of a grant, or the ability to set aside money in the discretionary fund, will be determined by what the county manager reports is available to spend.
Action on the STOR Strategic Committee is expected to begin soon. Chamberland said it’s likely to show up on a commissioners’ meeting agenda in coming weeks.
