City Council + Mad Rabbit

September 2024

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

Later this year, Steamboat Springs City Council will be tasked with voting to approve approximately $2.5 million in previously accrued funds towards the final phase of the Mad Rabbit Trails Project on Rabbit Ears Pass. (for more of a historical refresher, click here). We at RCR encourage our friends and supporters to voice your support for this project to counteract the anti-trails narrative being pushed on our City Council members – let our Council know we want these trails built using the funds as they were intended!

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.