archives

By Suzanne Webel Prologue, written in October 2017. Recently I’ve spent a lot of time (again) learning about elk, this time in the context of Rabbit Mountain. In the past few years a growing herd of elk has decided that Rabbit Mountain is a great place to hang out. In spite of Boulder County Parks and Open Space’s mission of providing a haven for wildlife with no hunting, Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) has decided there are too many elk. So they imposed an elk hunt that will close the park to the public for half of every week, for half of every year, so that two hunters a week can have the entire park to themselves while they “harvest” a couple dozen animals a year. The theory is that hunting will inconvenience the elk into migrating off Rabbit Mountain. Whether trails actually inconvenience wildlife seems to be a perennial debate. Over the years we have asked for new trails on many BCPOS parks, and been told repeatedly that trails inconvenience wildlife so we can’t have more trails. Here, we suggested that staff should build at least the trails that have already been approved, especially if the goal is to inconvenience the elk. The first Rabbit Mountain management plan was written in 1984, when the park consisted of about 560 acres, and the plan promised some really nice trails. One short trail was built. By 1995 when the next management plan was written, the park had grown to more than 2400 acres, and more trails were

By Suzanne Webel This trail had been on my bucket list, for just about ever. It was reported to be enormous and gorgeous, with dinosaur tracks, prehistoric rock art, a Spanish Mission, and a historic ranch….. But it was always a bit too far, too remote, and too … well, just too unknowable. And then there was the small matter of the US Army declaring it wanted to expand its Fort Carson Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) by taking over the entire 400,000 acre Comanche National Grassland — including Picketwire Canyon — and turning it into a bombing range. Starting in 2003, the plan would have condemned an additional 6.4 million acres of land owned by private citizens, making the total project area three times larger than any other military base in the United States, larger in area than the states of Maryland and Massachusetts combined, and displacing more than 17,000 residents. Sight unseen, I figured that was a pretty bad idea, so I joined up with other trail advocates, geologists, archaeologists, and ranchers to oppose the Army’s expansion plans. After a decade of pitched political battles, on 25 November 2013 the U.S. Army announced that its plan to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver site had been cancelled. So, naturally, by early spring of 2014 I had organized an equestrian expedition to check it all out. Warnings: Picketwire is a very long drive from Boulder County, approximately 5 hours. The area is next to a bombing range There is no designated horse camping and no water

Nod from Boulder board blazes way for western connector trail to Joder Ranch By Alex Burness Camera Staff Writer Boulder’s Open Space Board of Trustees have given the nod to the construction of a trail connecting north Boulder to the Joder Ranch. At consecutive study sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, Boulder’s Open Space Board of Trustees sifted through close to 10 hours worth of details that they will use to inform a recommendation to the City Council in March about the North Trail Study Area Plan. Late Thursday night, a straw poll of board members suggested support for a plan that favors, among other things, the hotly debated construction of a trail on the west side of U.S. 36, connecting north Boulder to Joder Ranch. The plan, referred to as the North TSA, represents the ongoing development by Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks of a vision for a 7,700-acre portion of the city north of Linden Avenue and northwest of the Diagonal Highway. OSMP’s trustees are tasked with directing a plan that improves experiences for hikers, bikers, equestrians and other visitors, while increasing the sustainability of trails and conserving natural resources. They are expected to offer guidance to the City Council on the North TSA March 9, in a conversation that will continue March 10 if necessary. Between now and then, OSMP staff will return to the drawing board to refine the plan supported by straw poll Thursday, but that takes into account a host of smaller recommendations made throughout the two-day session. The trustees