Christmas arrived Wednesday for Tim Wohlgenant, the new state director for The Trust for Public Land, when months of negotiating, and a hefty loan, reopened public access to an iconic fourteener. Like many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks, Wilson Peak (altitude 14,017) is heavily peppered with private mining claims whose owners, authorized by the 1872 Mining Act, can threaten legal action against trespassers, including hikers. The price for Wilson’s 23 mining claims was dear – $3.25 million. Supporters raised $1.7 million and borrowed the rest to close the deal by Oct. 31.
Wow – more than $3 million. That’s a lot of money.
A: It is what it is. We’re not setting the market price. The price we’re paying is based on appraisal.
What makes Wilson Peak so special?
A: It’s unique, a landmark property. The mountain is on a Coors can, and you see it on posters all the time. I don’t know of many other properties that are as recognizable. We did have the land appraised, and the appraiser felt this number was reasonable.
Might that payout encourage other private landowners to demand even higher prices for access?
A: I don’t think so. This says nothing about what the price would be for a different property in a different market area, like the Lincoln-Democrat- Bross mountains. That land wouldn’t necessarily have the same price attributes.
Is that area where you’ll be focusing next?
A:Yeah, we’re very interested in continuing work in the Mosquito Range. The access to the summits of Lincoln, Democrat and Bross are all privately owned by mining patents. We’ve worked with those owners quite a while, hoping to get those trails into public ownership.
But those peaks are swarming with climbers. What’s the access issue?
A: Right now, those owners don’t block access because policing would be so hard. The owner of Wilson Peak was able to shut down access because there aren’t many routes up, and he could stop access farther down the trail. And with Lincoln, Democrat and Bross there’s not the clear friction between the owners and the climbing community that there was with Wilson.
What other issues are preoccupying The Trust for Public Land?
A: We’re working to make sure there are parks and open space in walking distance for everyone. We want to establish an urban edge between communities, preserving character by preserving buffer lands, with urban trail connections between communities. We’re working with farmers and ranchers to preserve open-space scenic values, and we’re always working to preserve iconic landscapes that are culturally important to Colorado.
