Mad Rabbit Refresher

September 2024

It’s time to bring the Mad Rabbit Trails Project back to the top of your minds.

What is the “Mad Rabbit Trails Project”? This 10-years-plus initiative to direct a portion of the 2A Trails Accommodations Tax (‘tourist tax’) to various trails in the Yampa Valley accrued funding from 2014-2024. In order to be eligible for funding, any project – or its functional equivalent – must have first been outlined in the original Steamboat Springs Trails Alliance (SSTA) Proposal. The SSTA Proposal covered trails in 5 key zones to be developed – Emerald Mountain, Buffalo Pass, Mad Creek, the Town Network, and Rabbit Ears Pass. Over the past decade, progress has been made to spend these funds on trails and amenities that are treasured by the community. A few excellent examples: Morning Gloria, Ridge Trailhead improvements, Wild Rose, NPR, several lodging and commuter pathway connectors, the Fish Creek underpass, Soda Mountain trail, Flash of Gold, and more.

Why is it called “Mad Rabbit”? When the SSTA proposal was approved for funding through this tax mechanism (by a landslide 71% of local residents), it contained reference to several interconnected sets of trails that would have theoretically extended from Rabbit Ears Pass all the way over Buffalo Pass and into the Mad Creek/Gunn Creek zones (therefore Mad > Rabbit). Over the many years in which this project has passed through several federally-managed NEPA processes, certain trail segments have been removed from the table – most notably, almost anything in the Mad Creek area. The name “Mad Rabbit” is therefore presently a misnomer. In 2024, we are really only focusing on the last phase to bring these intended projects to completion – which will all occur on Rabbit Ears Pass.

So where is the process right now? The Rabbit Ears Pass portion of this project was brought under intense scrutiny in recent years by myriad factors, causing lengthy delays and heavy-handed involvement of various local, statewide and federal government agencies. Most recently, in late 2023, The US Forest Service issued a FONSI (Finding of No Significant Impact) related to Rabbit Ears trail development. In response to calls by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to line out future-minded management practices for these trail developments, the USFS then spent months building an Adaptive Management Plan to fulfill requirements to gain CPW/DNR support in this effort. The USFS is now poised to give final support to this project and green-light Rabbit Ears trails for funding. As the City of Steamboat has collected the 2A lodging funds that await projects, City Council will be asked this winter to vote for a successful allocation of funding to these trail projects as the final step. The remaining balance in this fund is about $2.5 million – these funds are currently gathering dust waiting to be allocated to upcoming trail projects.

What does this have to do with Core Trail funding? Maybe you’ve heard the false narrative being pushed – “we need the Core Trail, not Mad Rabbit”. People pushing this line are hoping to prevent multi-use trails being constructed on Rabbit Ears Pass, and would rather see the accrued funding drained into quite literally *anything else*. Years ago, an entire committee (the 2A Lodging Tax Committee) was tasked with deep-diving into the feasibility of each proposed trail project, from singletrack to paved connectors. The Core Trail South segment (the only portion that could be considered for funding through this mechanism) has been mired in challenges with obtaining easements and was determined by the 2A Committee to be ‘juice not worth the squeeze’ in terms of cost-per-foot to construct a raised, paved ‘path to nowhere’ as compared to the litany of mileage to be afforded on dirt/singletrack projects. All that said – we certainly support the expansion of the Core Trail funded through other means. Don’t fret – the Core Trail West is a project in motion right now! When it comes to Mad Rabbit trails versus the Core Trail – this is a false dichotomy. It’s not “either/or”. It’s “yes, AND.”

….and what does Steamboat Springs City Council have to do with it? Many Steamboat Springs City Council members are relatively new to the job, and have not been in place throughout the past decade as this project has made drastic improvements to recreational amenities across our trail network. Ultimately, this Council will be responsible for the final vote to allocate *already accrued and awaiting green light* funds as intended – and as will be recommended by the 2A Lodging Tax Committee after their many years of work to ensure this project’s success. We urge our supporters to contact City Council and express your support for them to vote to allocate these funds as will be recommended by the committee – towards multi-use trails and trailhead development on Rabbit Ears Pass.

Please send your supportive emails to: [email protected] – we do not encourage cut-and-paste of the below phrasing, but an individual email stating your connection to local trails paraphrasing one or more of the below talking points.

Suggested messaging:

Steamboat Springs is in need of responsible multi-use trail development along the already-impacted Highway 40 corridor. Please approve 2A Trails funding for use on the Mad Rabbit Trails project.
I am a Yampa Valley resident who is in support of responsible multi-use trail development that has been scrutinized, reduced and agreed upon by a litany of agencies and stakeholders over the years. Please do not delay and bog down this process any further – I urge your support in voting to allocate funds from the 2A Trails budget to the Mad Rabbit Trails project in a timely manner.
Well-managed and maintained recreational opportunities, with temporal wildlife closures in place, is always preferable to the alternative – unchecked overuse and lack of management or seasonal closures. Please do not delay in approving funding allocations to the Mad Rabbit Trails project.
The Mad Rabbit Trails project was approved for funding by over 70% of local voters in 2013. Please honor the voices of your constituents and allow allocated funds to do their intended work.
Follow the science! The Mad Rabbit trails project has undergone a years-long process of scientific scrutiny (and been modified dramatically) to accommodate wildlife, protect resources, institute travel restrictions, and implement seasonal closures – which do not currently exist – to further protect sensitive species.
Do not waste time and energy to consider diverting this funding to Core Trail expansion southward. This is not the appropriate mechanism to support those plans. We do want to see Core Trail expansion – but multiple other funding mechanisms exist (and have already been put in place) to allow extension westward. Please focus on funding multi-use trail development through the Mad Rabbit trails project.