Some recreation facilities that people are used to in the San Juan National Forest could be going away.
Forest representatives have outlined potential recreation facility closures or other changes to the La Plata County Commissioners.
Columbine District Ranger Matt Janowiak cited budget cuts being passed down from the regional Forest Service office. They have budget allocation criteria based on things like user trail miles and number of ski areas, he said. “This is new. These criteria haven’t been applied before. They said we’d be looking at a 36-percent reduction. We said we can’t handle that in one year. They said three years.”
He added, “It’s based on our lack of ski areas and visitor numbers compared to other regions,” especially near Denver.
County Commissioner Brad Blake, at meeting earlier this month, asked, “Are hunters considered visitors? Isn’t this the most heavily hunted forest in the nation?”
Hunters count as visitors, Janowiak said, “but compared to being next to Denver, the day hikers would exceed all the hunters in this area.”
San Juan National Forest representative Brian White noted the San Juan National Forest goes from Wolf Creek Pass to the Utah border. With that large area, “The money doesn’t go far,” he said. “We have 127 developed recreation sites, 43 developed campgrounds, 1,800 miles of trails, part or all of four wilderness areas.”
SJNF has backcountry and wilderness type recreation, and the focus is on facilities that support those uses, White said.
They are reviewing the 127 recreation sites for sustainability, social, environmental, and economic impacts, he said. Operating costs have seen 18 percent inflation over the past decade, while the SJNF budget has gone down 50 percent.
“Maintenance costs go up with aging infrastructure,” White continued. “When we first got word that our budget was going down, we convened a working group and cut seven from (recreation) staff to hire the people to clean the toilets. We’ve done the belt tightening, everything we can. Now, we’re to the things the public sees.”
