A map of the White River National Forest looks like a big green heart stretched across Colorado. Its various units span nine counties, from the town of Fraser in the northeast nearly to Crested Butte in the south, and almost to Meeker in the northwest.
White River also is close to the hearts of many Coloradans. Because of skiers who flock to Vail, Aspen and Summit County, the forest is the nation’s most visited, with 9.6 million users a year. Even disregarding skiers, the 2.5 million-acre forest is the nation’s eighth busiest.
Use of the forest doubled from 1992 and 2002 and is expected to grow another 50 percent in the next 20 years.
Forest officials have been wrestling with how to move all those people around while still protecting forest lands, and late last month they issued a long-awaited draft of a Travel Management Plan for the White River.
Creation of a new travel plan is vital not only to manage growing numbers of visitors but also to balance different uses – hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking and off-road vehicle use, not to mention regular automobile use, camping, access for fire fighting and other needs.
Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth believes off-road vehicle use is one of the greatest threats to forest health. The White River’s proposed travel plan is one of the first issued since Bosworth set that priority, so how it’s decided could create a model for other national forests.
The White River now has about 1,900 miles of roads and 2,400 miles of trails – plus 1,000 miles of illegal roads, some old, others carved more recently by all-terrain vehicle users.
The draft Travel Management Plan offers four alternatives for public review, but officials have a preferred option, “Alternative D,” which would add 275 miles of trails. The overall number of miles available for different uses would be about the same as available now. Some illegal roads would become part of the official network while others would be closed. The other alternatives include no action, a proposal that would optimize the road system for recreational use and an alternative plan to emphasize resource and habitat values.
The White River Travel Management Plan is being closely scrutinized by interest groups, and it is open for public comment until Oct. 31. The text of the plan and instructions for comment are on the forest website, www.fs.fed.us/r2/whiteriver. (Click Travel Management on the right of the home page.)
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