The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“I don’t see it going away given the increased usage”
By Kendra Walker
During their September 16 meeting, the town council considered a letter of support for a citizens’ initiative advocating for a reroute of the Snodgrass trail from private to public land to establish recreation accessibility on it year-round. The council ultimately decided not to take any action in a split 3-2 vote and not publicly take a stance as a town. With little discussion, the Crested Butte council also chose to not approve a letter of support.
Members of the Snodgrass reroute initiative have requested support letters as they pursue a reroute with the U.S. Forest Service. The initiative includes a petition that has garnered 537 signatures online.
The private portion of the Snodgrass trail is owned by the Allen ranching family who close the trail in the fall for their cattle operations. Mt. Crested Butte community development coordinator Leah Desposato explained that town staff spoke with Curtis Allen for his thoughts on the initiative. “He shared they feel the current trail system functions well and they are not interested. He expressed concerns to cattle fencing and operations and they oppose the reroute.”
“I’m not a rancher. I’ve ridden with cows many times,” said councilmember Bruce Nation. “I don’t see too much conflict between mountain bikers and cattle.” He shared later in the meeting that he has signed the reroute petition.
“My opposition to this is that the ranching community is against it, the Division of Wildlife is not in favor of it because of concerns of habitat fragmentation, the Forest Service is not a fan of it, hunters are not a fan because it’s a valuable migration corridor,” said councilmember Roman Kolodziej. “CBMBA is not endorsing this, they are specifically keeping their distance from this because they’re honoring the Forest Service’s ask that they don’t pursue it,” he said, referring to when the proposed reroute was removed from CBMBA’s Riders Off the Road campaign to gain broader support.
“My understanding is that CBMBA would love for this to happen…they did everything they could and now feel like it needs to have enough of a community grassroots thing for it to succeed because the Forest Service isn’t going to listen to just CBMBA,” said Nation.
“It seems tone deaf to me at this moment to be asking the Forest Service — who can’t pump out public toilets or patrol our public lands or keep people from parking on wildflowers given lack of staffing — to take on a significant undertaking to reroute the trail,” said mayor Nicholas Kempin. “I think it’s terrible timing for it… they are running on a skeleton crew right now. It’s a very low priority for me until those other things are fixed.”
“I would have liked to have seen more inclusion from other groups heading into this discussion,” said Kolodziej. “It’s a very sensitive thing and we could even risk losing access. We could risk [the ranchers] being frustrated and saying it’s too difficult to do this anymore and fragment the land and sell it off.”
“I would like more input from the Allen family on how this impacts them, but it’s been pretty vague,” said Nation. Councilmember Bobbie Sferra agreed, “I’ve heard from a lot of people that it would be great if Snodgrass could be open all year long.”
“I have a deep appreciation for some of these long-term relationships,” said councilmember Steve Morris. “I am comfortable taking the Allens at their word. I fully support a citizen-led initiative, but I don’t think we need to take a position on this.”
Graham Elliot spoke during public comment. “I’m here on behalf of 746 signatures on the petition (combined online and written petitions). Snodgrass has been designated a recreation emphasis zone by the Forest Service,” he said. “.8 of a mile is the closed [private] trail, we want to move the trail 400 feet to the north.”
He continued, “The Allens are disingenuous. That trail closed on August 25 and there are still no cattle on there. So why close it when you’re not using it? They don’t maintain the fences properly, I get cows in my neighborhood all the time. Their statements were vague, they’ve always been vague. CBMBA has always been 100% behind us. Many board members on CBMBA have signed that petition. Many of your constituents have signed this petition.”
“I understand this is a complex situation. I respect the heck out of ranchers but there has to be a bit of a balance in the quality of the conversation,” said resident Carl Tucker. “I want you all to start thinking about this as an opportunity with North Village and future growth in our town, and see this as potential valuable and necessary amenity. I do think this is a bigger issue and I would encourage you to talk to a larger set of folks. I don’t see it going away given the increased usage,” he said. “I hear people say it all the time that they worry the Allens will take it away. The day they take that away forces the Forest Service to start that reroute anyway.”
“I’ve lived here over 20 years, and I appreciate Snodgrass for what it is,” said Kolodziej. The council voted 3-2 to take no action on a letter of support, with Nation and Sferra voting against. Councilmembers Alec Lindeman and Valeda Scribner were not at the meeting.
“We need to get together with [the Allens] and see what their problems are and how can we mitigate those,” said Nation. “This isn’t going away, people are going to ask for this forever.”
