Comments on: Thoughts on the Hidden A(Gem)da Wilderness Proposal

By: Corey

Corey — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:34:43 +0000

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20100616/NEWS/100619865/1077&ParentProfile=1058

By: Frank

Frank — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:37:32 +0000

That’s awesome, Corey! Where did you hear about Polis skipping Hidden Gems?

By: Corey Bryndal

Corey Bryndal — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 04:20:27 +0000

Frank,

Looks like HG hit the skids w/ Polis for the moment. If there’s one thing that freshman congressmen avoid is hot-potato’s !! While they may be down, there all but out. If you enjoy any outdoor activities up and above just simple hiking, you’re watching these Environ-elitists attack your rights to use and access public lands responsibly.

There is a time and place for reasonable protection measures – this is way too broad of a brush stroke.

In other News: Rep. John Salazar’s SanJuan Wilderness proposal is actually progressing. Grr! Guess that’s going to make for an awkward moment at the family Christmas dinner when brother Ken shows up wearing all of his green & yellow BP regalia.

CB.

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:04:32 +0000

Thanks for update, Corey. The fight is just starting locally, and we've all got to keep fighting against this proposal in the areas that Representative Polis may support. Please email him by going here.

By: Corey Bryndal

Corey Bryndal — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:32:28 +0000

Update: The Hidden Gems proposals related to Gunnison & Pitkin Counties including the Whetstone Wilderness were removed from the proposal that was sent to potential sponsor Jarid Polis (D-Boulder).

They’re not gone, nor are their thinly veiled goals of exclusion from public lands.
Next John Salazar (D-Manassa) will have a chance at rubber-stamping them if he has the stomach for the fight.

By: Corey Bryndal

Corey Bryndal — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:10:44 +0000

Thanks for the thoughts, but..

Crested Butte & Gunnison need to quit pussy-footing around.
If they want to kill the mine… do just that. Nothing more, nothing less.

If they don’t have the guts or resources to do it, then quit whining and taking pot shots at the knee level and squandering our diverse recreation asset base as ammunition.

I’ve about had it with the half-hearted cheap shots at our expense.
There is NO way that this area qualifies as Wilderness, and NO way that it will STOP the mine.

Enough is enough.

This proposal is bad, hurts Crested Butte, it hurts Gunnison County and does NOT accomplish the goals of its proponents.

Thanks for listening.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:34:06 +0000

True in some cases, Adam. There are also some trails in our area that used to be popular bike loops, such as Daisy Pass to Oh-Be-Joyful that were legal as recently as 1993. One of the best rides I’ve ever done is Pollock Bench in Fruita. I rode it the last year it was legal to do so (about 2000?), prior to the creation of the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness area. Those are just some rides that I’ve either ridden or know people who have, and are now lost to bikers forever.

Wilderness proposals also destroy any potential of developing new trails for bikes or other banned forms of recreation. Wiens’ dream of a Gunnsion to Crested Butte singletrack will be severely hampered by this proposal, for instance. One of the “Hidden Gems” outside of Carbondale currently has a system of illegal trails on it. These trails can either become a legal and terrific amenity for the people of Carbondale with cooperation between interested parties, or it can be closed forever to everyone but hikers and horses.

By: Adam Buckwalter

Adam Buckwalter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:40:41 +0000

Good post, Frank. I agree with most of what you stated, but the issue of mountain bikes has its ins and outs. Mountain bikes require a much more mantained trail to travel on than a hiker does. In the wilderness I’ve been in, it seems that the trails are always too rough, steep, or loose for a bike to travel on. I’m not sure if there even is any trail maintenance done at all in Wilderness areas, much less the amount that would be required to get trails to the level where bikers could use them.

Just my .02