STOR to lead valley’s public lands initiative

$30k pledged so far toward $60k need

Byy Katherine NettlesThe Gunnison Valley is rallying around stewardship for its public lands this summer, and within about two weeks of an initial conversation between a couple of recreation management leaders in the valley, a plan has come together to help shore up basic management needs for the coming season in the Gunnison Ranger District. In a private meeting late last week members of the Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation (STOR) Committee agreed to take a leadership role in the fledgling initiative to fundraise $60,000 for four backcountry crew members and create an awareness campaign as well.

To kick-start the fundraising, STOR will allocate $15,000 it received in Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) grant funding to match the same contribution from the Gunnison Valley Metropolitan Recreation District (MetRec).

The agreement didn’t come easily, though. When STOR was approached with the idea one week prior, there was some initial hesitation among the 21-member committee. MetRec executive director Derrick Nehrenberg had first approached the MetRec board of directors about it after he talked to USFS recreational staff manger Matt Quinn about the massive federal workforce cuts, including 12 layoffs in the Gunnison Ranger District. 

“I know Matt, and I just asked if he had any ideas how MetRec might help. It’s very organic, how it came about,” says Nehrenberg. 

Quinn has responded that hiring about four additional crew members, one third of his original staff, could help the district keep a bare minimum of services alive this summer—services such as maintaining bathrooms, campgrounds and forest service presence. 

When Nehrenberg brought this idea to MetRec, and as reported in the Crested Butte News last week, the board readily agreed to help fund the positions which would be hired through the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association’s (CBMBA) seasonal crew of Conservation Corps. But the MetRec board suggested it be led by the aptly named STOR Committee, and that additional community partners help raise the money for the positions. 

CBMBA executive director Dave Ochs said the local bike clubs and the local bike trail crews, Gunnison Trails and CBMBA, were on board. “We all met to discuss, and when you hear the recreation staff fill you in on the reality of the situation, knowing how important a human presence really is, it’s hard not to want to rally,” he said.

The STOR Committee grappled with that request however, as an unscheduled agenda item at its April meeting, “And it kind of got shot down at first, which I understand,” says Nehrenberg. 

One issue brought up was whether supplementing a federal workforce would create precedent and reinforce such federal budget cuts, leaving the county to manage federal responsibilities with its own limited resources. STOR members did see the benefit of helping however, and what committee member/Gunnison County commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels referred to as an “ad-hoc subcommittee” of about seven STOR members met privately on April 3 to further discuss the matter. 

“We talked about the changing federal landscape and how the Forest Service and BLM [Bureau of Land Management] have been understaffed and underfunded for years, and now we’re in a whole new world of trying to figure out how to run our public lands,” she said. “We did decide that STOR could take a leadership role in trying to gather funding. And STOR will put in $15,000 from a GOCO grant we received,” she confirmed. That will match MetRec’s commitment of $15,000 as well, getting halfway to the whole sum needed for the four crew member additions. 

“It’s not like we’re going to the wider public; but we think there’s value in it being a community supported effort. Part of the goal is to raise the money and get the crews, and part of it is to raise awareness about how federal decisions affect our everyday lives,” said Puckett Daniels.

STOR is also preparing a communications campaign for those who visit the forests and trails this summer. 

“I really want the general public to understand that who they vote for and what decisions those people make impacts our everyday lives and the quality of those natural resources for generations. People say they don’t want to get political…but their lived experience is political,” she added. “It feels right; we just needed to take a moment to think through consequences. We cannot absorb this forever.” 

Nehrenhberg agreed, “It’s a significant leap to take together. Our community needs a strong STOR committee, as strong as it can possibly be, so [MetRec} is in full support. Matt is losing 12 positions, we’re bringing back four. So, this is the bare minimum of sustaining effort to keep things going. It’s about taking care of our backyard, our neighbors, some of whom work in these positions and care about what they do.”  

He said he cannot imagine how to frame the future under current circumstances. 

“We’re testing reality, and I don’t think we should expect that those positions will come back next year. There’s no evidence that they will. All we can do is take the first step.” 

Ochs says the CBMBA board and staff will do all it can to help administer the recreation stewards/crew members. “We’re excited to work even closer with them as we’ll communicate even more, to plan around projects, collaborate, and collect data. We’ve hired two more CBCC crew members, eight in 2025, so we can overlap and have a broader reach ourselves.

 “I think a lot of us are hoping it’s not an ongoing need,” Ochs continued. “I hope the need is further identified by being slashed in such an irrational process, and changes are made to help foster a healthy and unique public lands future for all Americans, by Americans. I do think many local organizations and our community would rally for the need, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. On behalf of CBMBA, we know we stand stronger looking out for and working alongside each other. We don’t exist without our Ranger District, and we’ll advocate for public lands and sustainable stewardship practices as long as the wheel spins.”  

Despite the rocky path to get the initiative underway, Nehrenberg said the relatively short period of time it took is a testament to relationships between community members. “The great thing about this valley is people might have different opinions, but they have strong relationships. You can tap into those strong relationships pretty quickly. People might have disagreements about things, but they trust the relationships.”

Ochs also reflected, “This is an opportunity to show the support and solidarity for our federal partners from the whole community, and the many constituencies and components that make up STOR, who can help spread the request and the need.”