Every year, San Juan Back Country Horsemen of Pagosa Springs volunteers to help clear wilderness trails to try and keep trail systems open in the face of the spruce-beetle-killed trees that clog our trails.
In 2017, the Forest Service, San Juan BCH, outfitters and other volunteers opened about 50% of our system trails on the Pagosa Ranger District.
In 2018, working together with outfitters and the Pagosa Area Trails Council, we raised about $35,000 to hire a Southwest Conservation Corps crew to help clear trails. But again, only about 50% of system trails were opened last year.
Clogged trails result in environmental degradation due to the bypassing of downed trees and subsequent creation of alternate routes. They also severely inhibit access. The Wilderness Act states, “wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation and historical use.”
Despite fundraising and an additional Forest Service allocation of $160,000, the district falls well short of the $3.5 million estimated to be needed to clear wilderness trails. About 9,000 trees are falling per year, but approximately 5,000 are cleared annually. The math doesn’t bode well.
New approaches are needed to resolve this natural disaster. We face a real threat of losing some of our wilderness trails, and what is lost could be gone for good.
We see the judicious and temporary use of chain saws as a way to protect wilderness, and we appreciate the Forest Service’s careful deliberation to appropriately manage this wilderness crisis.
Larry Smith
Pagosa Springs
