1
January 28, 2015 VOLU M E 5 4 | I S S UE 4 | 7 5 ¢
PikesPeakCourier.net T E L L E R C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
In the forest ‘It is all about caring for the land, and serving the people’ By Rob Carrigan
rcarrigan@coloradocommunitymedia. com
Oscar Martinez, Pikes Peak District Ranger, outlines initiatives and addressed questions by locals at the meeting Tuesday. Photos by Rob Carrigan
Restoring resiliency to the “Wildland Urban Interface” by thinning out dense forest, reducing fuels and collaboratively managing resources like land, water and providing for travel management planning, are all part of the drill, says Erin Connelly, Forest and Grassland Supervisor for the Forest Service’s Pike and San Isabel National Forest Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands, when she spoke to Woodland Park residents at the Ute Pass Cultural Center on Tuesday, Jan. 20. “It is all about caring for the land, and serving the people.” Connelly says. Citing a recent study identifying the Top 5 reasons visitors come to the forest, she notes: 1. They are here to view natural features. 2. Relax. 3. View wildlife. 4. Hiking or walking in the natural surroundings. 5. Driving to places within the forest. Local residents in attendance challenged some aspects of the operation, however. “Some of us think of you as the Forest Closers,” said local resident Curt Grina. “It seems more areas are closed all the time. And much of the forest is cut off from us ex-
Erin Connelly, Forest and Grassland Supervisor for the Forest Service’s Pike and San Isabel National Forest Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands, spoke to Woodland Park residents at the Ute Pass Cultural Center on Tuesday, Jan. 20, about policies and upcoming issues. cept for about a third of the year.” He asked Connelly and Pike National Forest District Ranger Oscar Martinez to identify how many miles of road had been closed and additionally how many roads in the forest are targeted for future closer. Both Connelly and Martinez said they have to look at management with all stakeholders in mind. Concerns for water, and forest management that restores resilience to a diverse and multi-faceted forest landscape, while helping collaborative efforts in the private sector, and with interactions with all organizations is key to their success. See related story on Page 13
CUSP staying home, branching out Forms new organization to help other watersheds POSTAL ADDRESS
PIKES PEAK COURIER (USPS 654-460)
OFFICE: 1200 E. Highway 24 Woodland Park, CO 80863 PHONE: 719-687-3006 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Teller County, Colorado, the Pikes Peak Courier is published weekly on Wednesday by Colorado Community Media, 1200 E. Highway 24, Woodland Park, CO 80863. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT WOODLAND PARK, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 11 a.m. Legal: Thurs. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 10 a.m. G ET SOCIAL WITH US
P L EA SE R ECYC L E T H I S C OPY
By Norma Engelberg Contributing writer
The Coalition for the Upper South Platte has become a leader when it comes to “boots on the ground” accomplishments in watershed management. “We’re known throughout the country for getting things done,” said Carol Ekarius, the organization’s executive director. “Other organizations around the region and the country keep asking us to help them organize and get things done, too.” Late in 2014 the coalition board came together and decided to do something about all of these requests for help. “We’ve formed a new nonprofit organization to help other watersheds in the region, Coalitions & Collaboratives, Inc.,” Ekarius said. ““This new organization will answer the calls I used to get asking me to come there and start a `new CUSP.’ I want to stay here but I also wanted to help these other organizations get the wind in their sails.” As one of its first projects, the new organization will help with strategic planning for the Arkansas River Basin from its headwaters to the state line. “Then we’ll start working with sub-basin groups to help them get going on projects,” Ekarius said. “We’ll also be working with some of the flood mitigation groups up north. It’s going to be a lot of work; we’ll be doing big things along the Front Range. We’re kind of into that rising-tide-lifts-all-boats philosophy.” Check out www.coco-inc.org for more information about this new organization. The website is still under construction but has a
message on its opening page encouraging visitors to keep checking back. Forming a new organization to help others allows the coalition to continue to concentrate on its own mission of protecting the water quality and ecological health of the Upper South Platte Watershed. “Some of our (2015) program plans are still up in the air,” Ekarius said. “But we’ll continue to work on Woodland Park Healthy Forest projects and we’re starting a new healthy-forest project near Bailey at the northern portion of the watershed.” Another project that is just getting underway is streambed stabilization of Horse Creek in the Hayman Fire burn scar. “We’re just starting our analysis in the Horse Creek area,” Ekarius said. “This will be a project similar to what we’ve done for Trail Creek and West Creek. We’re moving downstream toward Deckers.” Other projects include trail work in Eleven-Mile State Park and flood hazard work in the Waldo Canyon burn area. “The Colorado Department of Transportation has begun an analysis of the work that has already been done in Waldo Canyon,” Ekarius said, adding that in the past, the department has set the precipitation threshold for closing U.S. 24 at one-quarter inch per hour. “They hoping to be able to raise that threshold to one-half inch or higher,” she said. The state department of transportation has spent about $10 million on U.S. 24 flood mitigation in Ute Pass. Projects include adding a large concrete culvert and other infrastructure and installing flood-monitoring devices in the canyon to help track storm events. “We’re also continuing our weed-management programs,” Ekarius said. “That includes our
Last fall, volunteers with the Coca Cola Volunteer Project install jute matting and crib walls in the Hayman Fire burn scar to reduce flooding. Photos courtesy of Lisa Patton, Coalition for the Upper South Platte
Students from The Classical Academy rake and seed slopes in the Waldo Canyon Fire burn scar at the Flying W Ranch. cost-sharing program for property owners who are battling noxious weeds from the state’s A-list.” The A-list includes invasive weeds that are not known to be found in the state or are rare and/or not yet well-established. By state statute, wherever these weeds are found they must be completely eliminated. There are also B and C lists available at www. colorado.gov/agconservation. The site’s conservation/noxious-weed page includes a noxious-weed identification app for IOS and An-
Trout Unlimited Cutthroat Chapter and Colorado Parks & Wildlife staff mitigate noxious weeds at 11 Mile Reservoir in the fall of 2014. droid devices. For more information about Coalition programs, including information about volunteer and donation opportunities, visit www. cusp.ws or call 719-748-5325.