Proposed changes for busy base accessing Colorado 14ers
Parker Seibold, The Gazette
The U.S. Forest Service is contemplating the future of a highly trafficked recreation area accessing some of Colorado’s most-sought 14,000-foot summits.
The South Park Ranger District recently released a proposed plan and opened a public comment period regarding the Kite Lake trailhead and campground above Alma. That’s the base for starting up mounts Lincoln, Democrat and Bross, or the trail loop known as Decalibron, which is estimated to attract 20,000 hikers every year.
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Those crowds have “overwhelmed” infrastructure and the “fragile tundra ecosystem” above 12,000 feet, according to the Forest Service’s 43-page draft plan and environmental assessment. The plan seeks to address several concerns, which include camping along the road and dog and human waste left too close to a drinking water source, Buckskin Creek.
The plan indicates Kite Lake’s parking lot was built for 40 vehicles, but closer to 200 have been counted there and lined about a mile down the road. The line of cars and the road’s “steep and poor conditions” are “often making it impassable for emergency and sanitation vehicles,” the Forest Service states.
The proposal calls for restricting camping to developed campgrounds and “designated dispersed” sites, installing another vault toilet, adding parking spots and widening the road.
But action could hinge on private land issues that have recently reemerged above the trailhead.
This was after failed legislation that mine claim owners saw as an attempt to improve their protection against liability. John Reiber, for one, announced closing his lands along the Decalibron loop in the wake of that failed legislation. (He could not immediately be reached for comment.)
The Forest Service referred to the situation as “a substantial issue” in its draft plan. Continued closures could mean an alternative to those proposed changes.
In the case of closures, “visitor use would likely decrease at this site but may not be eliminated,” the assessment reads, noting also the Lake Emma Trail here. Under the alternative proposal, that trail could be rerouted around private property, and the Forest Service could remove fire rings, picnic tables, an informational kiosk and other trail signage for the fourteeners.
The draft plan envisions an “adaptive management strategy,” allowing for “flexibility and efficiency” as potentially needed to “ensure safety and access.” Possibilities are listed, including an entrance station and gate, a reservation system and shuttle, and seasonal road closures for wildlife, as advised by biologists.
The comment period for the plan runs through April 24. Submit at the Kite Lake project website: https://bit.ly/3Ui5Ux4
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