With summer still weeks away, officials are already noticing damaging behavior in Colorado’s backcountry.

On June 3, both the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Forest Service posted about concerning discoveries.

Starting with U.S. Forest Service concerns, officials in Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland report that they’ve already been finding more garbage and food waste that visitors have left behind. The post was accompanied by what appears to be remnants of a group meal strewn across the forest floor.

As these officials note, “unsecured garbage and food waste is a major attractant to wildlife, increasing the likelihood of habituation and negative human/animal interactions.” The request was also made for all visitors to the area to ensure that waste either goes in provided animal-proof trash cans and dumpsters or is packed out. Not only can accessible trash increase the potential for negative human/animal interactions, it also introduces an unnatural and unhealthy food source to wildlife.

Meanwhile, Ouray County is also having an issue with rulebreakers impacting natural spaces, as noted by a post that’s addressing off-highway vehicle damage that’s been spotted in the area’s fragile alpine tundra. The damage appears to be caused by off-trail travel.

“We understand that running into a patch of snow on a trail can be frustrating if you’re wanting to travel further, but driving around the snow and going off-trail is not the right answer,” reads the post. “When you bypass a trail, you’re damaging a vital ecosystem to alpine critters who live at these high elevations – and you’re also creating false trails that might lead others to follow your lead.”

Aside from causing damage, off-trail travel can also pose a serious risk to safety in this part of the state, as many abandoned mine shafts exist. As a result, people may end up falling into one of these shafts when not on trail, which can be deadly.

Both of the aforementioned situations represent a failure to follow a few of the most basic outdoor recreation best practices – pack out your trash, don’t give wildlife a source of unnatural food, and stay on established trails. Following best practices like these, as well as those related to fire risks and otherwise, are crucial for keeping natural areas preserved and open to the public. In addition to potentially impacting access, failure to follow rules in the backcountry may also lead to added fees for use as officials need to apply more resources to properly care for a space. Do your part to keep Colorado’s backcountry as pristine as possible – not just for yourself, but for generations to come.

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