Access to Elkton discussed by BOCC

Frames seek snowcat access to property

The Board of County Commissioners discussed the implications of allowing a local family with property in Washington Gulch to drive a snowcat there this winter, while keeping in mind the impact it could have on other recreational uses in the area.  

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The Frame family owns two cabins and some outbuildings in Elkton, about six miles from the Washington Gulch trailhead, where winter access can be difficult. Allowing a snowcat to access the property, they say, would make maintenance easier and the tracks made along the way could keep recreational users on the road.
“We don’t want to run a snowcat operation. They are slow and expensive to operate, so a snowcat is not a mode of transportation. We just want to run a snowcat up to do maintenance on our property,” said Mary Frame, adding that the family doesn’t even own a snowcat and would have to borrow one from friends.
Washington Gulch has become an area of dispute between backcountry users because of vague language implemented by the Forest Service’s Travel Guide for Winter in 1995, which “discourages” snowmobile use in the valley, located north of Crested Butte, and forbids snowcat operation without a permit.
Because the county owns a section of the road, which also crosses Forest Service property, the county would have to issue a permit for the use of a snowcat in Washington Gulch.
“I think I may be the most immediate impetus for this meeting,” said county attorney David Baumgarten. “I was hoping to get the board and the Washington Gulch users together to discuss a snowcat operation in the area before we have an application to make a decision about.”
Also at the meeting were Gunnison County Sno Trackers Snowmobile Club president Phil Chamberland and Nordic Center board president Bryan Wickenhauser, as well as Gunnison National Forest District ranger Jim Dawson and Kai Allen, another ranger with the Forest Service.
“Our position remains unchanged as far as the Frames having all the right in the world to access their private property, so long as it isn’t commercial,” said Dawson.
The concern for the county is whether allowing a snowcat into the area would open it to more use by snowmobiles and skiers, neither of which stay solely on the road and public property.
According to Jed Frame, who lives in the family’s cabin for half the year, the road leading away from the trailhead is extremely hard to find when it is covered with snow and having the snowcat cut a path could lead other users in the right direction.  
“It seems to me that the skiers and the snowmobilers get along better once there is a track there for them to follow. It also gives them both room to get around each other when they meet on the trail,” said Jed.
“There are three signs before you get to the National Forest boundary saying that everyone needs to stay on the road. If it is an issue of the road through the Allen [private] property is hard to follow, we can mark it. But the ski community is the worst violator of all users,” said Allen.
To help fix the problem, Chamberland offered to donate marking poles, like those used by the snowmobile club, to outline the trail. Wickenhauser said he thought he could get enough volunteers from the Nordic Center to install them along the one-mile section of road that passes the private property.
After the discussion, the Board of County Commissioners agreed that progress had been made on the topic of trail use in Washington Gulch and said they would anticipate an application for snowcat use in the area from the Frame family.