There will be a public meeting on the Rico-West Dolores Roads and Trails plan June 2, from 5-8 p.m. at the Dolores Community Center.
U.S. Forest Service staff will be on hand to discuss various options for trail use between the West Fork of the Dolores River and Lizard Head Pass.
The options are part of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement released May 5. Public comments are being sought on the various options and are due by June 20.
The plan focuses largely on proposed changes for single-track motorcycle use, in some cases taking away access and in others adding access. Additional ATV/UTV trails are also proposed.
Rico residents have expressed concerns about motorcyclists accessing town via the Burnett Creek trail and road, then riding through residential neighborhoods to reach Colorado Highway 145. Motorcyclists have said that they value the convenient access to Rico from Burnett Creek.
To accommodate both concerns, Alternatives C, D and E propose to redirect motorcyclists from the Burnett Creek trail to the Rio Grande Southern Railroad bed via a new trail connector. From there they can cross the Montelores Bridge to Colorado 145 and ride a short distance north to Rico.
“There would be signs encouraging them to take the re-route in order to lessen the traffic into Rico neighborhoods,” said forest planner Debbie Kill.
Alternative B would eliminate motorcycle access from the west ridgeline into Rico by making Burnett Creek and Horse Creek nonmotorized.
Four alternatives preserve single-track motorcycle use on the entire length of the Calico Trail. However, Alternative E proposes to close the northern portion.
The Winter Trail and a portion of Wildcat trail are now open to motorcycle use, but would close to all motorized use in all but Alternative A.
Proposals vary for the Bear Creek trail. Currently, motorcyclists are allowed to ride Bear Creek, Little Bear Creek, Gold Run and Grindstone trails. But several alternatives propose to limit or eliminate their use there.
“You will see a theme in Bear Creek as you go across the alternatives,” Kill said. “It goes from what it is today with two-thirds of drainage open to motorcycles, to motorcycles allowed in one-third of the drainage, to just crossing the drainage, to completely nonmotorized.”
Ryman Creek and East Fork trails are open to single-track motorcycle use and would remain open under Alternative A, but would be closed to motorized in all other alternatives.
The East Fork trail remains open to motorcycles in Alternatives B, C and D, but they would be prohibited in Alternative E.
Some alternatives add single-track motorcycle use, including at Loading Pen and Tenderfoot trails. Another proposal links single-track motorcycle trails between Stoner Mesa and Taylor Mesa via a Spring Creek trail extension.
The forest service is also proposing timing restrictions on motorized uses to benefit wildlife and hunters.
“After detailed analysis of elk habitat, we proposed the timing restrictions to enhance elk production periods in spring, and reduce conflicts with walk-in hunters in fall,” Padilla said.
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