Farnum Peak roadless area provides wildlife habitat and connectivity between the mountains to the north and South Park. Photo Michael Rogers
Farnum Peak Restoration Project completed in 2015
Thanks to the volunteers from Wild Connections, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Coalition for the Upper South Platte, Mosquito Range Heritage Initiative, and to the Forest Service crew who helped to close an illegal motorized trail in the Farnum roadless area.
Dale Kemmer, volunteer, said, “It was a very satisfying weekend… Thank you for the opportunity to serve.”
Both ends of the illegal track were closed with large dirt berms, post and cable; the track behind the closure was mechanically ripped, seeded and covered with logs and brush. Some volunteers camped overnight at Round Mountain Campground. Bad weather held off until after the work was finished mid-Sunday afternoon.
Click on the photos below to enlarge the slide show and see what is involved in doing a project like this.
A monitoring team will check the closures next spring to see if there is any evidence of illegal use. Grass may have sprouted in 2015, but typically it comes on stronger the next spring and gets well established the second year.
This closure has ensured that the wild qualities more than 19,000 acres in the Farnum Roadless Area are more secure. Farnum Peak area is important to wildlife populations of elk, deer, bighorn sheep, mountain lion, bobcat and lynx and is also a popular backcountry hunting area easily accessed by Denver, Colorado Springs and local hunters. Ian Petkash, Colorado Parks and Recreation wildlife officer said, “That is wonderful! Good work and cheers to you all for putting in the hard work. Rest assured that I'll be enforcing the closure whenever I'm in that neck of the woods.”
