Proposal would close part of Pike forest to off-roaders
Pike National Forest officials would close the Manitou Experimental Forest to vehicles, expand off-highway vehicle trails in Rainbow Falls and close several dead-end roads, under a proposal for managing heavy vehicle use in the Rampart Range northwest of Colorado Springs.
The proposal, which was developed after public meetings last year, will be released to the public at a meeting Wednesday in Colorado Springs.
The project area is north of U.S. Highway 24 to Woodland Park and east of Colorado Highway 67 through southern Douglas County. On summer weekends, thousands of people camp here, many with dirt bikes, ATVs and four-wheel-drive vehicles, and officials say their unregulated use damages the forest.
The most significant change would be in the Manitou Experimental Forest north of Woodland Park. The 16,000-acre forest is popular with dirt bike and ATV riders, but recreation planner Frank Landis said heavy vehicle use interferes with owl research there.
“We have an opportunity to re-establish some of this area for the purpose of research,” he said.
The agency proposes to ban off-highway vehicles and other vehicles in the experimental forest, about 14 miles of roads, except from Oct. 1 to Nov. 30 for hunting season.
Other proposed changes include:
• In the area just to the north, the Rainbow Falls OHV park, 4.5 miles of motorized trails would be closed, 5.9 miles of trail would be built, and 14-acre and 3-acre “open riding” areas, where vehicles could go cross-country, would be fenced off. The agency also proposes to build a 14.3-mile singletrack trail connecting Rainbow Falls to the popular motorized recreation area near Devil’s Head in Douglas County.
• Camping would be limited to designated spaces for the first mile along Forest Service Road 348.
• About 6 miles of roads in the project area that dead end would be closed.
• Forest Service Road 322A, currently closed because of a wash-out, would be re-opened to licensed vehicles only.
• About 5 miles of hiking trails would be built, connecting the area to Waldo Canyon, Blodgett Peak and the Monument Preserve hiking areas.
• A bicycle trail from Rampart Reservoir linking with trails to the north would be built.
Landis said the proposal is the “preferred alternative” of three that were studied, though it could change before the agency conducts an environmental analysis, which will be finalized by spring 2011.
Closures would begin in summer 2011, he said.
“It’s trying to give a quality experience to OHV users, eliminating conflicts with users as well as conflicts with resource damage,” Landis said.
PUBLIC MEETING
The U.S. Forest Service will hold a public meeting 5-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Leon Young Service Center, 1521 Hancock Expressway, on its proposal to limit vehicle use in the Rampart Range. A presentation will begin at 5:30.
Documents will be posted online after the meeting at www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc. Comments will be taken through April 12.
