Forest Service to hold rec facility meetings in January

Matt Hildner

Daily Press Writer

MONTROSE — The fate of campgrounds and other recreation facilities on Forest Service land will not be decided without public input, staff with the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest said Thursday.

GMUG officials reviewed their ongoing evaluation of the management of recreation facilities at a meeting of the Public Lands Partnership. They promised that district rangers would hold public discussions at various locations around the GMUG, which includes over 3 million acres across eight counties.

“We’re going to come out and start talking to the public sometime in January,” said Forest Supervisor Charlie Richmond, who was not at the meeting.

Public concern rose over the summer when the GMUG closed three campgrounds on the Uncompahgre Plateau and another near Silverjack Reservoir. The Norwood-based Western Slope No Fee Coalition estimated that closures and decommissioning could affect 100 recreation sites across the GMUG.

Carmine Lockwood, the GMUG’s planning staff officer, told the PLP Thursday that the Forest Service had not drafted a closure list. He said the planning effort was looking at the costs of managing all developed recreation facilities, such as trail heads, pull offs and campgrounds.

Campgrounds represent just 40 percent of the developed recreation facilities the GMUG is looking at.

The range of options considered by the GMUG would include more than simply closing facilities, he said. Other cost-cutting measures could include limiting the season of use or the types of service available at a given site.

Earlier this year, GMUG staff said the funding to manage recreation sites had decreased by 40 percent since 2004.

Still, many of the local officials hoped to see concrete proposals from the Forest Service.

Dennis Erickson, the Montrose City Parks Planner, said local communities would need those numbers to consider any affects on the tourism industry.

San Miguel County Commissioner Art Goodtimes also urged the GMUG to come forward with a more definitive proposal.

“We feel like Charlie (Richmond) and you guys have been responsive to us, but at the same time, we’re still a little in the dark about what we’re really talking about,” he said.

Mary Chapman, the PLP’s coordinator, also asked the Forest Service to include some discussion of how other forests have included the public in the planning process, which started in some places as early as 2002.

“It’s always good not to reinvent the wheel,” she said.

Contact Matt Hildner via e-mail at matth@montrosepress.com