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Field trips to be held for Hermosa Creek plan

More than 100 people filled the conference room at the San Juan Public Lands Building on Tuesday to see where the planning process for the Hermosa Creek Special Management Area is and where it’s going. The meeting was hosted by the staff of the San Juan National Forest, who are responsible for the plan.

“It’s great that the energy it took to get Congress to pass the act is still alive and well in this community,” said Columbine District Ranger Matt Janowiak, saying they want to make it a process driven by the public. “This plan is for them and their kids, and we need to make it an enduring plan.”

Janowiak said one thing people need to understand is that the Forest Service will continue to make decisions about the Special Management Area under its current plan until the new plan is in place. Among the activities that will be taking place are running a gravel pit that already exists to put gravel on roads in the area for maintenance; possibly building another fish barrier just below the confluence of the East Fork and Hermosa creeks to aid in the reintroduction of Colorado cutthroat trout; possibly permitting for cattle grazing in two allotment areas that are currently inactive; and allowing Purgatory Ski Area to build a new Lift 8 and possibly expand trails on the back side. Several of those activities have already been studied under the National Environmental Policy Act, and agreements are in place.

A number of issues have been submitted to the Forest Service area for the Hermosa Creek Special Management Area Plan, said project manager Cam Hooley.

The attendees represented numerous stakeholders in the project. They asked that field trips be planned around a look at Level 1 Roads that might be suitable for Jeeps and ATVs in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter; an examination of possible trail routes to enter the Wilderness Area; the cattle grazing and dispersed camping areas closest to the creeks; a look at historical sites; and possibly a look at Parcels A and B, which are at the far south and north of the Special Management Area and the only places where mining and mining leases will be permitted as they are already present.

abutler@durangoherald.com



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