By David Lien
The San Juan National Forest Pagosa Ranger District recently completed the scoping phase of the Jackson Mountain Landscape Project and decided not to move forward with a proposed mountain bike trail system.
This is good news for elk, in particular.
“Concerns over the probable impacts of a trail system on an important big game migration corridor have led me to conclude that we would be in error in proceeding with the analysis of the trail proposal as currently envisioned,” said District Ranger Josh Peck. Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) members and many others applaud the decision.
“This trail proposal, if approved, sets precedent that the USFS not only allows illegal trail construction but encourages and accepts it as a legitimate means of bypassing proper planning procedure,” warned Alex Krebs, Southwest Colorado BHA assistant regional director, in a letter to Peck.
“It’s frustrating,” Doug Purcell, CPW’s District Wildlife Manager serving Pagosa Springs, said. “The trails on Jackson Mountain are illegal trails, and we’re not asking people to not be allowed to use the forest, but we are trying to preserve the most important areas.”
“… the vast majority of us aren’t advocating for our desire to hunt, we are advocating for the protection of wildlife and their habitat,” explained Colorado BHA Board member Kassi Smith. “How can we compromise those protections? If the question of conservation was put back on us in the form of, ‘well, in order to protect the longevity of this species, you must give up hunting them or accessing their habitat,’ the majority of us would make that decision without hesitation.”
The Colorado BHA chapter recently increased its reward from $500 to $1,000 for reports or information leading to a conviction of those responsible for building illegal trails on public lands.
David Lien is a former Air Force officer and co-chairman of the Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.