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A Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners of Ouray County, Colorado Urging the Bureau of Land Management to Reconsider Its Redistricting of San Juan County

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A Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners of Ouray County, Colorado Urging the Bureau of Land Management to Reconsider Its Redistricting of San Juan County A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF OURAY COUNTY, COLORADO URGING THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT TO RECONSIDER ITS REDISTRICTING OF SAN JUAN COUNTY WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Ouray County, Colorado (“Board”) has become aware of the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) decision to re-define its Colorado districts, and as part of that redistricting has removed San Juan County from the Southwest District, with field office at the Tres Rios location in Durango and assigned San Juan County, a neighboring county to Ouray County, to the Rocky Mountain District (formerly known as the Front Range District), with field offices in Gunnison and Canon City; and WHEREAS, Ouray County recognizes that policy, land use, travel management or development decisions by one land owner or agency can affect similar decisions by adjacent land owners or agencies, even when such decisions are "administrative". WHEREAS, Ouray County desires the BLM to recognize that coordination, communication, cooperation and collaboration between federal land managers and local governments maximizes the resources available to each entity, and enhances our collective abilities to provide safe and enjoyable recreational opportunity for locals and visitors to the San Juan Mountains region, and provides gateway communities with greater opportunities to achieve social, economic, and environmental goals. WHEREAS, Past coordination, communication, cooperation and collaboration between the BLM Tres Rios Field Office; BLM Gunnison Field Office; San Juan National Forest; Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forest; Colorado Parks and Wildlife; San Juan, Ouray, San Miguel and Hinsdale Counties; and numerous stakeholder organizations has resulted in partnerships to increase safety and resource protection on the high-country road system connecting the four counties; WHEREAS, Past coordination, communication, cooperation and collaboration on administrative decisions potentially affecting the high country road system intersecting the four counties have allowed the federal-county collaborative to provide a suite of services and opportunities to public lands users that cannot be provided by either the BLM, USFS, or Counties alone through separate efforts, such as increased sanitation facilities, informational brochures, and safety and resource protection provided by the successful Alpine Ranger program (see Attachment A); WHEREAS, the Board wishes to express it concern with the BLM's administrative redistricting decision on several grounds, including: 1) The four counties of the several interconnecting 4-Wheel Drive county roads known collectively as the Alpine Loop, San Juan, Hinsdale, San Miguel and Ouray, have worked closely together to coordinate OHV rules and regulations, maintenance and oversight among the four jurisdictions, as well as the federal agencies with lands to manage in the area. 2) The BLM considers the "Alpine Loop" to be only a subset of the actual larger San Juan Mountain High Alpine 4-Wheel Drive road system connecting the four counties (see Attachment B) physically, culturally, and economically. The 4-Wheel Drive road system connects lands having BLM surface, USFS surface, private surface and other surface estate ownership. 3) These coordination efforts are most easily accomplished when the federal agency personnel with jurisdiction for managed lands in the area are the same for all four counties; and 4) After implementation of this redistricting, any permitting or other action items for review or approval would require coordination with a more distant BLM district, multiple national forests, and associated field office personnel who will be less familiar with Resource Management Plans, Forest Plans, local governments, and Resolution 2016-043 Page 1 of 2 stakeholder groups providing valuable funding and volunteer efforts, delaying and complicating decisions regarding recreational uses, roads and events in the four county area; and WHEREAS, the Board is profoundly disappointed that the BLM took this action with no input from or discussion with the communities and county partners involved, including San Juan County and Ouray County; and WHEREAS, the four counties, including Ouray County, have supported the federal land management agencies, including BLM, in rejecting calls from members of the public for federally managed lands to be conveyed to the states, at least in part due to the many promises and representations by BLM and the US Forest Service that they would work closely with the local communities and public in making land use decisions (see Attachment C); and WHEREAS, this type of unilateral decision and lack of understanding of the impacts to partners of their administrative decision by BLM undermines the credibility of the federal land management agencies regarding their statements about the importance of local consultation and cooperation, making it difficult for elected county officials to rebut the concerns of members of the public advocating for state ownership and control of federally managed lands; and WHEREAS, this unilateral decision by BLM to redistrict San Juan County is a good example of the type of action that members of the public have decried in asking for conveyance of federally managed lands to the state. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF OURAY COUNTY, COLORADO, that BLM is strongly urged to: 1) Reconsider its decision to reassign San Juan County to the Front Range Rocky Mountain District, and to hold public meetings to hear from the public and elected officials of the four related counties the reasons that this decision should be reversed. 2) Adopt and implement policies to ensure that local government input is solicited on matters that may affect them prior to an agency decision. 3) Recognize that what the BLM manages as the "“Alpine Loop” is just a subset of a connected road system that also connects gateway communities and its holistic management is vital for user safety, alpine resource protection, snow plowing and access, and for the cultural, social and economic welfare of the four counties. 4) Enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the four San Juan Mountains High Country Alpine Road counties in the San Juan mountains, as well as partners and stakeholders, confirming, among other things, BLM’s continued participation in two meetings a year to discuss and cooperatively solve problems related to the high country roads in the four-county area. APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS _____ DAY OF ____________, 2016. Voting for: Voting against: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF OURAY COUNTY, COLORADO Attest: Lynn M. Padgett, Chair Ben Tisdel, Vice-Chair Michelle Nauer, Clerk and Recorder Don Batchelder, Commissioner By: Hannah Hollenbeck, Deputy Clerk of the Board Resolution 2016-043 Page 2 of 2 Attachment A: Alpine Ranger Documentation Resolution 2016-043 Page 3 of 2 Exhibit A CITIZEN-PROPOSED ISSUE PAPER Date: ISSUE: This petition, jointly sponsored by the Boards of County Commissioners of Hinsdale, Ouray, San Juan, and San Miguel Counties, respectfully requests that the Parks and Wildlife Commission Amend #504 of its Off-Highway Vehicle Regulations to recognize the validity of the Petitioners’ adopted Off-Highway Vehicle Ordinances DISCUSSION (FACTS AND FIGURES, EXPLANATION OF ISSUE): During the past several years the Boards of County Commissioners of Hinsdale, Ouray, San Juan and San Miguel Counties (“BOCC”) have enacted ordinances pursuant to their authority under §33-14.5-108 and 110, C.R.S., regulating the operation of Off-Highway Vehicles (“OHV”) on public roads under their jurisdiction. A copy of each county’s adopted OHV ordinances is attached to this petition and incorporated herein by reference. These county ordinances apply to the operation of OHVs on designated county public roads located within the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado that include numerous extremely rugged, primitive, and hazardous four wheel drive high mountain pass roads. These county designated OHV routes include the Alpine Loop roads between Ouray, Silverton and Lake City (Engineer and Cinnamon Passes) , as well as Imogene, Black Bear, and Ophir Pass roads located in San Miguel, Ouray, and San Juan counties. In response to concerns over public safety arising from several serious accidents involving both motor vehicles and OHVs that occurred on the high mountain pass road located in these counties, beginning in 2001 the Hinsdale, Ouray, San Juan, and San Miguel BOCCs have enacted ordinances requiring that the operators of OHVs possess a valid motor vehicle operator’s license and/or maintain at least the minimum level of liability insurance coverage required by the Colorado Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, Title 42, Article 7, C.R.S. Ouray and San Miguel Counties enacted the OHV ordinances following consultation with the USDA Forest Service, the federal agency responsible for administering much of the public land that the county designated OHV routes traverse. Both Ouray and San Miguel Counties have entered into agreements with the USDA Forest Service authorizing it to patrol those designated OHV routes located on land it administers and to enforce their OHV ordinances. A copy of those agreements is attached to this petition and incorporated herein by reference. Several years following the counties’ enactment of their OHV ordinances, Division officials advised county representatives that the county adopted OHV ordinances are inconsistent with the Division’s
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