SLACK WEISS ANALYSIS PROJECT Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests & Thunder Basin National Grassland Parks Ranger District Jackson County, Colorado Heritage Specialist Report April 1, 2015 PREPARED BY: _____ /s/ Price B. Heiner____________ Price B. Heiner
[email protected] (970) 723-2733 REVIEWED BY: ________________________________________ Charlie Sharp, NEPA Planner ACCEPTED BY: ________________________________________ Ric Ondrejka, IDT Leader PROJECT AND ANALYSIS AREAS The Slack Weiss Project area is located on the Parks Ranger District of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland in Jackson County, approximately 25 miles south of Walden, Colorado, in Townships 4 & 5 North, Ranges 79, 80, & 81 West, 6th PM (Figure 1). Based on watershed boundaries, the Analysis Area encompasses approximately 139,747.7 acres (ac), including 58,804 ac (38.5%) of private land, 46,922 ac (33.6%) on National Forest, 24,015 ac (17.2%) on State lands, 14,926 ac (10.7%) on BLM, and 80.3 ac (0.1%) owned by the Colorado River Water Conservancy District (Figure 1; Table 1). Table 1. Land Ownership in the Slack Weiss Analysis Area. Land Ownership/ Administration Acres % of Total Private 58,804.3 38.5 Routt National Forest 46,922.0 33.6 State 24,014.7 17.2 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 14,926.4 10.7 CO River Water Conservancy District 80.3 0.1 TOTAL 139,747.70 100.0 The project area encompasses 42,952 acres located primarily in the Arapahoe Creek (27,264 ac) and Chimney Rock (15,612 ac) Geographic Areas (GAs). Both GAs support motorized and non- motorized recreation, and portions of the Continental Divide Trail (CDNST) occur in the northern extent of the Chimney Rock GA.