The Colorado River Valley (Glenwood Springs) office proposed Resource Management Plan is looking for public comment.
Comments need to be mailed by January 17, 2012 to:
BLM CO Colorado River Valley Field Office
2300 River Frontage Road
Silt, CO 81652
Or emailed to: cormpkg@ttsfo.com
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved the addition of three new State Natural Areas to the Colorado Natural Areas Program during its monthly meeting on Thursday Dec. 8 in Fort Collins.
Since 1977, the Colorado Natural Areas Program has worked with interested landowners and volunteers to conserve the ecosystems, species, geology and fossils that represent resources which are “uniquely Colorado.” Coordinator Brian Kurzel explained that the program enrolls only properties whose landowners support the protection of the resources on their properties. “It’s a way of acknowledging that the existing landowners are doing things very well, to recognize them for their work and to assist them in any way we can,” Kurzel said.
Two of the areas are located in southwest and are already owned and managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The third is located on the Eastern Plains.
The 14-member commission also unanimously adopted a recommendation to cut its membership to 11 while maintaining representation from traditional user groups and expanding the flexibility to attract commissioners with a special expertise in relevant areas like economics or marketing.
The proposal specifies three at-large members, two agricultural landowners or producers, two sportsmen or sportswomen, two with experience in outdoor recreation, one county commissioner, one member of a nonprofit, non-consumptive conservation group. No more than six members may be from the same political party. The recommendation will be presented as part of the merger bill to the legislature next session.
Finally, Commissioner Chris Castilian was appointed as the liaison to the State Trails Committee by Chairman Tim Glenn. The Recreational Trails Committee coordinates trail development projects with local governments and assists the Commission with the administration of a grant program that funds recreational various trail projects across the state. Commissioners also unanimously reaffirmed a former Parks Board policy establishing the roles and responsibilities of the Recreational Trails Committee and adopt several new changes to the committee’s grant review process. The grant program is a partnership among Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Great Outdoors Colorado, the Colorado Lottery, the Federal Highway Administration’s Recreational Trails Program and the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Program Fund.
The meeting was held at the Hilton Fort Collins, at 425 West Prospect Street.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is a 14-member board appointed by the governor. The Parks and Wildlife Commission sets regulations and policies for Colorado’s state parks wildlife programs.
The Commission meets monthly and travels to communities around the state to facilitate public participation in its processes. The complete agenda for the December Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting can be found on the Commission web page at:
http://wildlife.state.co.us/ParksWildlifeCommission/Archives/2011/Pages/December8-92011.aspx.
To learn more about the commission, please visit: http://wildlife.state.co.us/ParksWildlifeCommission/Pages/Commission.aspx.
For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.
Just five years after its inception, Arizona’s Off-Highway Vehicle Ambassador Program has expanded to about 100 volunteers and received a national award.
The Public Lands Foundation, a nonprofit group of mostly retired U.S. Bureau of Land Management employees, honored the state’s OHV Ambassadors with its national Landscape Stewardship Award this week.
The OHV ambassadors get special training and then hit the trails to help educate OHV riders and other public lands users throughout the state.
“Ambassadors not only help educate the public on responsible recreation, they educate the agencies on the condition of the public lands they manage for us,” said Jeff Gursh, who accepted the national award Thursday on behalf of the OHV Ambassadors.
“The Ambassador program has been a testament to multiple agencies and the OHV users working together with a common goal in mind: educate the public on responsible use of our treasured public lands,” Gursh added.
Gursh remembers now-retired Prescott National Forest Dispersed Recreation Planner Bill Cook talking about how he had seen a mountain biker “peer patrol” program, and Gursh thought it would be fun to start a similar program on OHVs.
After pilot programs with the Tonto National Forest and State Land Department at popular OHV sites in the Valley of the Sun, Arizona State Parks took on the oversight of the program in 2006 and the first official OHV Ambassador volunteers were trained in 2007, Gursh related.
Their training included first aid, situational awareness and public contact scenarios.
The program went state-wide in 2010-11, and one of the newest groups of volunteers is now working with the Prescott National Forest through the Community Forest Trust. Cook is among those local ambassadors.
“I think it’s valuable in helping educate a lot of riders about new policies,” Cook said, such as the state’s relatively new OHV decal program that requires OHV users to buy decals for their vehicles.
During an August work day in the Groom Creek area south of Prescott, for example, the Ambassadors handed out maps and talked to 15 forest users about the OHV decal program (one user didn’t have the required decal). They talked to another user about the lack of a spark arrestor.
They reported a shot-up Forest Service sign, trail erosion damage and a dangerous abandoned mine shaft, plus noted areas that could use more signs.
The OHV Ambassadors program gets some of the proceeds from the OHV decal program. Gursh hopes the Legislature doesn’t take the money for other needs.
The ambassadors’ statistics are impressive.
Working at 172 events, the ambassadors said they have reached 6,682 sportsmen and donated more than 4,300 hours.
They have monitored 4,908 miles of trail, removed 25 trailer loads (50 cubic yards) of trash from public lands, located and recorded 68 abandoned mines, repaired 1.5 miles of fence, located and reported 10 fresh cut trails, installed an informational kiosk and repaired two others, installed 124 signs, reported 17 downed signs, found and reported four abandoned vehicles to law enforcement, and reported 11 significant public safety trail hazards. They estimate the value of the work at $111,000.
“In an atmosphere of decreasing federal and state budgets, the Ambassadors take the initiative, displaying leadership to recruit, organize and perform meaningful work on the ground to improve the landscape,” a Public Lands Foundation news release stated.
“The Ambassador Program is a successful model to protect an entire regional landscape by promoting values of sustainability for multiple land management agencies,” the news release added.
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=100895
As of December 1st, Rampart Range Road is now closed for the season. The trails remain open as conditions permit, however with the recent snows, they may be impractical for many vehicles.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011 — Interested in Stay The Trail license plates for your motorcycle, 4×4, or tow vehicle? If so, you can now sign the petition on-line at http://staythetrail.org/plates/.
The license plates will provide funding and create awareness for Stay The Trail’s off-highway vehicle (OHV) educational and ethics programs. The programs highlight responsible OHV use on public lands in an effort to provide a sustainable recreational experience for OHV users and to keep trails and roads open to public access.
Requirements:
Available for:
Signing the petition does NOT commit you to purchase plates in the future. You must be a resident of the state of Colorado to sign the petition.
Getting custom plates for an organization is a complicated process. The first part of that process is to gather 3000 signatures of Colorado residents who may be interested in purchasing a custom plate for their vehicles. Once we’ve obtained 3000 signatures, we can move to the next stage in the process which is to find a Colorado state legislator to sponsor a plate bill in the state house and senate. Once the bill is approved, we’ll work with a graphic artist and the state to finalize the plate design. Then you’ll be able to purchase plates for your vehicles.
