Show Your Support for Mad Rabbit Trails
Let’s clear this up….new Mad Rabbit Trails will bring a HUGE benefit to our community!
The Forest Service recently issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in regards to the Mad Rabbit trails project. Keep Routt Wild (KRW) has broadcast many negative advertisements recently, claiming that this “massive” project will irreparably harm wildlife. This misinformation is a thinly veiled attempt to sway public opinion against this project with the goal of preventing its implementation. Unfortunately our County Commissioners appear to have embraced KRW’s position of calling for an EIS in an attempt to delay the project further and waste taxpayer money:
You can read the County Commissioners’ letter here.
HERE ARE THE FACTS!
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The majority of the new proposed trails are within a mile (that’s earshot) of Highway 40:
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60% of the proposed trails for this project have been removed already through the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process. This is a thorough, multi-year process for the Forest Service to undertake. Forest Service wildlife specialists and CPW have had major input regarding this project – as well as many other specialists and collaborating organizations.
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This final phase of the Mad-Rabbit trails project has been scrutinized for close to 5 years now. Each year the project is in “review” costs our taxpayers money that could be used to implement this plan and start making improvements to our trail system. An EIS is a higher level of scrutiny typically reserved for projects with major human impacts – such as coal mines or oilfields.
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This is not the “massive” project some groups are trying to describe it as. This plan will close 36 miles of user-created trails while constructing 42 miles of new trail. The user-created trails slated for closure are in more remote, otherwise unfragmented zones, while the new trails will largely be built along the US40 highway corridor.
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We at Routt County Riders have advocated for the successful implementation of this project for many years now. It was approved by over 70% of local voters. We want a better trail system! That said, we believe in striking a balance between the interests of recreation and conservation. We put trust in our local land managers who care deeply about the health of our forests.
Want to set your Routt County Commissioners straight and tell them how strongly you support the Mad Rabbit trails project? Click here to read their misguided letter to the Forest Service, and then send an email to your Commissioners:
Might we suggest the following? >>>>>>> feel free to cut and paste into your email!
To the Routt County Commissioners:
I am a local trail user and recreationist who is dismayed by your recent Mad Rabbit objection letter to the US Forest Service dated 9/12/23. This project, many years in the making, will be a massive benefit to our community at large. The questions you raise in your letter do not correspond to the request you are making for an EIS. This process would serve only to delay progress and drive up the cost to local taxpayers.
I fully support the Mad Rabbit trails project and want to see my local Commissioners doing the same, as opposed to standing in obstruction to a valuable recreational asset for the community. I urge you to publicly retract your objection letter to the USFS and come out in support of this project.
Signed,
<your name here>