Mile High Mountaineer The newsletter of the Denver Group of the Colorado Mountain Club Volume 42, No. 8 August 2010 • www.cmc.org USFS Proposes Fees in South Colony Basin Compiled from The Denver Post, May 16, 2010 article by Jason Blevins (303-954-1374 or [email protected]) and the USFS press release In May the USFS floated a plan that would require hikers to pay for access permits to South Colony Basin where the trail heads are located for Crestone Peak, Crestone Needle, Humboldt Peak and Kit Carson Peak in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. The proposal states the fees would be used to help maintain the $1 million spent on in recently finished trail improvements and protect the 1,500-acre basin's alpine terrain. The USFS states that Forest Service appropriated funds have not been sufficient to maintain current recreational services and environmental protections in South Colony Basin which they believe presents many challenges not found in other backcountry locations; such as maintaining costly summit trails, managing social and environmental impacts at campsites, restoring degraded alpine ecosystems, supporting search and rescue operations, dealing with human waste, and providing quality recreational experiences despite high levels of visitor use. Usage of the South Colony Basin is estimated by the USFS at 4500 visitors annually. The South Colony fee proposal requires approval by the Colorado Recreation Resource Advisory Committee, which reviews all federal agency fee plans in the state. The committee is expected to review the plan in early 2011 and if OK'd, the permit system will likely be installed for the 2012 summer season. Obviously a fee-based access permit could impact CMC members’ summit attempts and camping in the South Colony Basin. Some members believe that if the proposal passes other ranger districts will also propose access fees. Members are encouraged to comment individually on the proposed policy. Go here to comment: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/contact/feedback/ index.shtml CMC members may not be aware the State Board passed a policy on user access fees in July 2001. The Colorado Mountain Clubs Board policy: If a user fee program for public lands recreation is passed, the CMC believes that the program must recognize the following concepts: fee programs should be developed to meet short-term needs and not be intended to offset appropriated base funds; fees should be flexible, convenient, and coordinated amongst agencies when appropriate; fees should not result in increased infrastructure unless the agency is capable of adequately funding its maintenance in the long-term with base appropriations; fees should not preclude the enjoyment of our nation’s wild places by lower income individuals; and fee programs should Continues on page 3 Trip Signup Denver Group Council Seeks New Council To register for CMC trips online, go to www.cmc.org, sign in as a member, and Candidates For October Election click on TRIP SIGNUP. Search by whatever criteria you like; fewer criteria Are you interested in having a say about how the Denver work better. Call the office at 303-279-3080 x 2 if you need your password Group of CMC is managed? Are you interested in having or any assistance. We will also be happy to sign you up for trips if you don’t greater representation of your section on Council? Are you have computer access. interested in learning more about how certain activities or programs are handled? If so, your opportunity has come Calendar of Events by being a candidate for the Council Election. Contact For more information about schools, speakers, volunteer opportunities, and Stan Moore at [email protected] if you are interested in special events, go to our web site and click on PROGRAMS. To see joining the following members as candidates for the 2010- member-only schools and seminars, you must first sign in as a member. 2011 Denver Group Council election: 2-Aug 6:30pm Wilderness First Aid Marty Billings, Jeff Flax, Tiffany Holcomb, 4-Aug 6:00pm Backpacking School Erica May, Janet Martel, Beatriz Silveria Biographies of all candidates will appear in the September and 4-Aug 5:30pm Open Wall Climb October MHM. The October election will be via electronic 9-Aug 6:00pm Wilderness First Aid ballot or hard copy ballot to be contained in the October 9-Aug 6:30pm Adventure Travel Committee MHM issue. 10-Aug 6:00pm AAC Library Book Club 11-Aug 6:00pm BWAMM Speaker Series Not Your Backyard A’s & B’s The Denver Group is in need of A & B hikes and A & 11-Aug 6:00pm Backpacking School B hike leaders. 11-Aug 7:00pm Denver Group Council Meeting Each weekend hikes have the maximum members 12-Aug 4:00pm State Safety & Leadership Meeting registered and a waiting list almost equal, and in some 12-Aug 5:30pm Open Wall Climb cases in excess of, the number of members registered. 16-Aug 6:00pm Wilderness First Aid This situation is frustrating to all involved, 16-Aug 6:00pm DG Safety and Leadership Committee hikers and leaders alike. There are many close-in Denver, Jeffco 18-Aug 5:30pm Open Wall Climb and Douglas County hikes but here is an 19-Aug 6:00pm Fly Fishing Section Monthly Meeting opportunity for A & B hike leaders to 19-Aug 4:00pm CMC Foundation learn from other leaders about “Not in Your Backyard 22-Aug 7:30am Wilderness First Aid A & B Hikes”. 23-Aug 6:00pm New Member Meeting All leaders, but especially A & B hike leaders and 25-Aug YEP- Sheltered Workshop members who have completed Trip Leader School who 8:00am are looking for Leader in Training (LIT) hikes are invited 26-Aug 5:30pm Open Wall Climb to attend a learning session on August 12th, Thursday, in 27-Aug 9:00am YEP Conference Room A from 6:30 – 8:00 pm. 28-Aug 12:00pm Himalayan Cataract Project At the learning session “Not in Your Backyard A & 1-Sep 6:00pm Backpacking School B Hikes” will be presented in a consistent format 1-Sep 6:00pm BWAMM Speaker Series highlighting mileage, elevation, trail head directions, etc. Please register through the Trip Sign Up System. 1-Sep 6:00pm HAMS ExComm 2-Sep 5:30pm Development Committee 2-Sep 7:00pm YEP Speaker Pasquale NEW MEMBER DUES SPECIAL OFFER If you are interested in making a presentation, please $25 PROCESSING FEE WAIVED e-mail Linda Lawson at [email protected]. FOR SPECIFIC TIME PERIODS Tell your friends, family, your coworkers, your neighbors! Post it on Facebook and Twitter! Put it in your blogs! CMC annual dues for NEW DENVER GROUP MEMBERS are reduced $25 during the following 2010 dates. These dates coincide with the New Member Meetings with the offer ending the day after the meeting in anticipation of more members joining and attending the New Member Meetings. A coupon number will be posted to the on-line application during these dates allowing New Denver Group Individual & Family Members to have the $25 processing waived. Waiver of the fee results in Annual Denver Group dues of $77 for Individuals and $118 for a Family; two year memberships realize an additional discount. August 11 – August 24 New Member Meeting August 23 September 13-September 23 New Member Meeting September22 2 Mile High Mountaineer • August 2010 Continued from page 1 be designed to avoid the creation of a commercial atmosphere on public lands, which is enhanced by private involvement in recreation management. Additionally, a recreation user fee program for public lands must also meet, at a minimum, the following operational criteria: does not offset federal funding; limits the number of agency sites/projects under the program; requires agencies to develop program and site plans including goals, objectives, and timelines to be met with fee monies; requires agencies to coordinate fee programs; requires that funds are returned to the resource; requires that the public has input into the development of fee programs and that the agencies provide progress reports to the public; waives fees, in part or in total, for low-income individuals and volunteers; is cost- effective (25% or less for administrative overhead including administrative costs that are passed on to a contractor); requires agencies to undertake an analysis of displacement effects before fee projects are instituted; requires that fee projects have defined expiration dates; requires that fee projects stop once the budget backlogs or site objectives are met, or the expiration date is encountered; suspends an agency‘s authority to collect fees if it fails to meet any of the criteria; and limits the use of collected funds to the following acceptable uses and specifically disallows use of collected funds for the following: Acceptable uses for fee monies: maintenance, education/interpretation/enforcement, prevention/ mitigation of recreation–related impacts, one-time development of recreation/travel management plans, and recreation-related research. Unacceptable uses for fee monies: capital construction and capacity enhancement, full-time permanent employees, marketing, and general planning. stop once the budget backlogs or site objectives are met, or the expiration date is encountered; suspends an agency‘s authority to collect fees if it fails to meet any of the criteria; and limits the use of collected funds to the following acceptable uses and specifically disallows use of collected funds for the following: Acceptable uses for fee monies: maintenance, education/interpretation/enforcement, prevention/ mitigation of recreation–related impacts, one-time development of recreation/travel management plans, and recreation-related research. Unacceptable uses for fee monies: capital construction and capacity enhancement, full-time permanent employees, marketing, and general planning. Contacts: Bryan Martin, Director CMC Conservation Department [email protected] DG Conservatioin Committee Co-Chairs Claude Neumann [email protected] and Phil Kummer [email protected] CORSAR Cards Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue (CORSAR) Cards are available for purchase at the Membership Services counter.