NEPA--Environmental Assessment

motorized opportunities and include: Colorado Trail (#507), Deer Creek Trail (#678), Coal Creek
Trail (#677), Pass Creek Trail (#500), Engineer Mtn Trail (#508), and Cascade Creek Trail (#510).
The use on the Pass Creek, Cascade and Colorado Trails is high with the remaining trails seeing
moderate amounts of use. Backcountry skiing, snowshoeing and hybrid snowmobile/skiing occur
during winter months in portions of this allotment. The travel management designations are “A”,
where no motorized travel can occur at any time of the year, and “B” where snowmobiles during the
winter can travel.
Recreation Special Use Permits for outfitters and guides include educational backpacking groups,
guided hunting, horseback rides, and bicycle tours. Special events include endurance foot, bicycle
and uphill ski races.
Within the Flume and Graysill Allotments, recreational uses include driving for pleasure, hiking,
backpacking, horseback riding, bicycling, dispersed camping, hunting and historic site viewing.
Cascade Divide Road (#579) and the upper two miles of Hermosa Park Road (#508) offer two scenic
roads for motorized travel. Forest Road 508 goes over Bolam Pass to U.S. Hwy. 145, passing by the
Graysill Mine and provides access to the Colorado Trail (#507). Use is heavy in the summer season
(June - October). In the winter season (November - April) this area is used by snowmobilers and
backcountry skiers and use is moderate.
Recreation Special Use Permits for outfitters and guides include educational backpacking groups,
guided hunting, jeep and bicycle tours, and snow cat skiing in the winter. Special events include
endurance foot, bicycle and cross-country ski races.
Roadless Areas
The project area includes approximately 72,000 acres of inventoried roadless areas. These areas
were inventoried for suitability of roadless characteristics in 2000, as part of the President’s
Roadless Initiative (36 CFR 294). The inventory was updated in 2009 as part of the Colorado
Roadless Rulemaking process, resulting in 54,000 acres of inventoried roadless areas (Figure 1-7).
The reduction in acres is due primarily to removal of wilderness acres in the tally. These areas may
contain some primitive old roads that are not maintained as part of the Forest Service classified
system of roads.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES
Alternative 1 –No Action
Recreation impacts from the removal of sheep grazing in this landscape would eliminate the conflict
that exists between recreationists and livestock grazing operations. There would be no sheep on
system trails, no conflicts with guard dogs, no continued trailing and bedding and no sheep at
popular lakes. The vegetation loss and soil compaction from trailing and bedding would restore itself
over time, or at least be given the opportunity to heal. The wildflowers would remain for viewing
throughout the growing season. Those people who feel that a “primitive” or “pristine” experience in
the backcountry or wilderness should not include sheep would have an improved experience. The
removal of livestock grazing would not affect the suitability of inventoried roadless areas or
Wilderness Study Areas. Some visitors who enjoy and appreciate the “old west” experience and
cultural history of livestock grazing would miss the presence of sheep and sheepherders.
Alternative 2
Under this action alternative, the level of impacts on recreation in the project area would continue as
they currently exist and would increase as the numbers of recreationists increase. For some visitors,
the presence of sheep, the visible signs of grazing (trailing, tramping of vegetation and wildflowers),
along with the noise, and negative sheep dog encounters are undesirable. Continuation of current
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