By Roaring Fork Audubon and Colorado Sierra Club
The Redstone to McClure Pass section of the Carbondale to Crested Butte trail development project will pass through some of the most ecologically important and beautiful breeding bird habitats remaining in the Crystal River Valley. While this is exciting for bikers, it is an ecological tragedy for wildlife that call the area home. The proposed bike path through the Crystal River corridor to Crested Butte has been met with opposition from many environmentally concerned individuals and groups including Roaring Fork Audubon (RFA) and Colorado Sierra Club. RFA and Sierra Club presented the county and the Forest Service with decades of scientific evidence documenting that recreational trails are a major culprit in the continuing decline of wildlife, chipping away at now scarce, undisturbed wildlife habitats; and they persisted in their decision to sacrifice essential wildlife habitat for human recreation. Though we have withdrawn our formal objections to the trail, functionally waiving our right to sue over the project, this in no way implies support for or an endorsement of the trail. Instead, the decision was made in exchange for several promises from Pitkin County aimed at mitigating some of the damage from the development of future trail segments.
Promises Made by Pitkin County for the protection of wildlife in the development of future trail segments include:
Cumulative Impact Assessment: Future trail development will undergo a Cumulative Impact Assessment–an assessment of the impacts from the development of the entire 83-mile trail instead of the piecemeal assessment that was conducted on the Redstone to McClure Pass segment.
Habitat Preservation: A 1.3-mile section of the trail’s habitat will be preserved for wildlife.
Construction Timing: Construction will be halted during the bird-breeding season.
Despite these concessions by Pitkin County, there remain significant concerns including:
Inadequate Wildlife Surveys: Initial surveys by the environmental consultant (ERO) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) failed to include avian species and did not consider the broader impacts of habitat fragmentation on other native wildlife including elk, mule deer, black bear and others. The disregard for scientific evidence is troubling, particularly given that many bird species in the area are declining and of conservation concern.
Ignored Scientific Insights: The failure to account for cumulative impacts undermines the integrity of environmental stewardship. Recreational trails have been shown to negatively affect breeding birds, many of which are already in decline. North America has lost over a third of its bird populations (3 billion birds) in the last 40 years—a crisis that the proposed trail could exacerbate.
Limited Protections: The promise to save a small patch of habitat, while beneficial, is insufficient. Viable alternatives to trail construction through natural, intact habitats exist, and these trail alternatives have not been chosen by the County. The priority for “user experience” over ecological sustainability is disappointing and undermines the ecological integrity of the Crystal Valley.
Decades of scientific research has come to recognize recreation as a leading factor in endangerment of plant and animal species on federal lands. Seasonal trail closures that the county will institute on the Redstone to McClure Pass trail section during winter to protect one species, elk, will not protect the more than 45 species of birds that have been documented to breed in that area during spring and summer, 18 of which are highly vulnerable to extinction from climate warming.
A call to action: Conserve and protect native wildlife
RFA and the Sierra Club remain steadfast in our commitment to protect native wildlife and their habitats through science-based conservation efforts. We call on our community to prioritize the preservation of these invaluable native wildlife species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. By halting the ongoing “death by a thousand cuts” from recreational trail-induced habitat fragmentation and disturbance, we can begin to reverse the loss of biodiversity.
The Sierra Club’s mission is “to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; and to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environments.” Similarly, RFA aims “to promote the enjoyment, conservation and understanding of birds, other wildlife, and their habitats through birding, education, advocacy and fellowship in Eagle, Garfield, and Pitkin Counties.”
Our missions demand that we continue to oppose development in remaining wildlands. Please join us in advocating for responsible, science-based conservation to protect our natural heritage for future generations. Together, we can make a positive difference.