Durango Telegraph - Coalition to Save Perins Peak has mixed day
Coalition to Save Perins Peak has mixed day

In 1971, the 10,000-acre Perins Peak State Wildlife Area was officially set aside for species including peregrine falcons, deer, elk, bears, bobcats and songbirds. Although it is open to hunters, the area is closed to all human travel from November through July to facilitate pristine wintering grounds. Despite its location just west of Durango, the area is considered prime low-elevation habitat.

The most vocal opponents of extending the Colorado Trail into Durango made the case for wildlife again on Monday. The Coalition to Save Perins Peak, under the umbrella of the Friends of the Animas Valley, filed an Amicus (Friend of the Court) brief in an effort to ?insert the public into a public hearing.?

The group?s attorney, Travis Stills, explained, ?We?re not sure why the county would press so hard and spend more than $40,000 of taxpayer dollars on this, except that since 2000, the county has pushed to bring an extension of the trail through Perins Peak.?

However, Stills noted that there seemed to be a difference of opinion among county commissioners on the reason for the county?s lawsuit. ?We ask that if this is not about the Colorado Trail, that the county should oppose any future efforts to extend a trail through the Perins Peak Wildlife Area,? Stills said.

Renee Parsons, one of the coalition?s founders, commented that a La Plata County victory in the lawsuit could be disastrous for wildlife. ?If the Division of Wildlife loses this suit, this community will lose something that?s very valuable,? she said. ?I don?t even want to contemplate the ramifications of losing this suit.?

District Judge Jeffrey Wilson ruled on whether or not to accept the Coalition as an Amicus later on Monday. With the county opposing its admittance and the state endorsing it, Wilson offered a mixed ruling. The Coalition to Save Perins Peak was not accepted as a party to the case. However, the 12-page brief submitted by group was introduced into the record.

?I think it?s a mix,? Stills said of the decision. ?He?s going to leave it in the file and not strike it completely. It?s just very unfortunate that the county opposed citizen input into the trial while the state embraced it.?

? Will Sands