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| Fixes for the forest SideStory: Vanishing visitors: Forest Service reports drop in recreation
by Will Sands Big federal funding is flowing into the San Juan National Forest. Millions of dollars will be coming to the aid of local public lands, courtesy of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Among several ambitious projects, the boost will help the agency catch up on deferred maintenance on the region’s 1,800 miles of trails. More than $18 million has been allocated to “recovery projects” on Forest Service lands in the Rocky Mountain region. A good portion of that is coming to Southwest Colorado for a variety of improvements on the San Juan National Forest. While the funds will enable the Forest Service to do some catching up, the broader intention is to create new jobs in the region and stimulate the economy. “Receipt of these funds will enable us to address a variety of facilities and trails improvement projects that we’ve wanted to do, but have not had the funding or resources to complete,” said Rocky Mountain Regional Forester Rick Cables. “The Forest Service provides such a wide range of opportunities to do great projects on the ground, working with our many partners. This funding will now enable us to provide even more meaningful jobs in this tough economic time.” Recreational rehabilitation will be the Forest Service standout over the next two years, and a variety of roads, trails, recreation facilities and historic-preservation projects have been identified throughout the Southwest. Financially beleaguered Dolores and Montezuma counties will get especially big boosts. “The criteria was that the projects needed to be shovel-ready,” explained Bill Dunkelberger, associate manager of the San Juan Public Lands Center. “We also tried to look at projects that would create economic opportunities, and we targeted areas where unemployment was highest.” For Durangoans, the federal pick-me-up will be most evident on the region’s expansive trails network. The agency will again contract with the Southwest Conservation Corps to clear, improve and revive much of Southwest Colorado’s singletrack. The locally based nonprofit youth corps is expected to travel the entire San Juan National Forest trail system, and hundreds of miles of trail and numerous bridges will be repaired. “Over the next two summers, the Southwest Conservation Corps will travel nearly all of our 1,800 miles of trail,” said Dunkelberger. “By next fall, we should be in pretty good shape in terms of catching up on trail work in the region.” Roadwork will be another big component of the ARRA package. Approximately 100 miles of unauthorized and user-created roads will be decommissioned in Archuleta County. In addition, maintenance will be conducted on the Dolores-Norwood and McPhee roads in Dolores County, and the East Fork and Jackson Mountain roads in Archuleta County. Work will also be contracted to the private sector to continue renovations at the historic Glade Guard Station in Dolores County and for continued stabilization of cultural sites at Chimney Rock. The Dolores River corridor and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument will also benefit from the federal boon. In those areas, hundreds of acres of invasive weeds and tamarisk will be removed. Work will also be contracted to close and rehabilitate 300 acres of user- created roads in Canyons of the Ancients. And the list goes on to include wildlife habitation restoration projects on Dolores Public lands, energy efficiency measures for the Anasazi Heritage Center and a reforestation project in Archuleta County. While the improvements will be many and meaningful, Dunkelberger did caution that they will take time. The funds are only just hitting local coffers, and ARRA will not be fully apparent on the local landscape until late this year and early next. “We just received a lot of the funds in the last couple weeks,” he said in closing. “As a result, a lot of the work won’t begin until later this summer and early this fall. It’s been kind of a delayed reaction, but much better late than never.” •
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The Independent Weekly Line on Durango and Beyond
