As you may have heard, local trail advocates are celebrating a big win this week after Steamboat Springs City Council voted 5-2 to approve $1.8 million in funding for new trails and trailhead amenities, largely within the Rabbit Ears Pass vicinity. Routt County Riders has been at the forefront of this effort for many years now. As a cycling advocacy organization, it is a major legacy of our mission-driven work to improve and augment access to outdoor opportunities that are open to bikes. These new trails will increase connectivity with longer looped routes and build out already-existing trailheads along the historically underutilized corridor of Highway 40. 

It remains abundantly clear that the community still has many questions about this project and why it is worth $1.8 million of public funds. There will always be differing opinions, but the amount of public comment and outreach in favor of these trails over the past month (or more) has demonstrated yet again that the majority of this community wants to see Rabbit Ears become a more accessible and beneficial resource. If you would like to read more about the purpose, need and exact details of this project on the ground, I would suggest directly accessing the Forest Service Adaptive Management Plan. 

While RCR’s main mission is to advocate for cyclists, I am here to make it publicly known that the Mad Rabbit Trails Project is absolutely NOT mountain bike-specific. Let’s dispel that myth once and for all. Within the 49 miles of trail slated for construction or designation in this area, only ONE single trail has been set aside as a suggested directional and user-specific trail to separate higher-speed downhill use in the Ferndale area. Other than that, we are talking 95% multi-use trails. Trails open to hiking, trail running, dog walking, bird watching. Yes – it’s easy to write this off as a ‘mountain bike trail project’ if you are looking no deeper than the face of the leading organization advocating for its completion. And why is that? Well, let’s get into it. 

For starters, mountain bikers were forced into the role of political advocates from the get-go, when ‘our type’ first started appearing more regularly on trails in the 1980s. There was a ton of push-back from people who wanted to see this new user group quashed under the guise of maintaining tradition. Mountain cyclists started organizing themselves….and never really stopped. Our beginnings in political advocacy to gain access have grown over the years to include huge efforts in trail construction and maintenance, volunteer involvement, community development, and education initiatives. 

Today, local chapters of bike-specific advocacy groups exist all across the country – Colorado is somewhat unique in the strength and sway of those groups. RCR now also plays a role within the Colorado Mountain Bike Coalition – we are aiming to improve the structure of statewide resource allocation in favor of a positive future for bikes and trails through various means. Overall, it is important to keep in mind that despite the front-page view of RCR being the leading advocacy organization for these new trails on Rabbit Ears, the project will absolutely serve a benefit to the community both on- and off-bikes. 

A second ‘hurdle’ or challenge to the public perception of this trails project is the fact that it was funded through a tourist tax, the 2A lodging tax (or ‘heads in beds’). This means that a good deal of the conversation around making sure funded projects are applicable to the original ballot language has necessarily involved using the word ‘tourist’ and ‘visitor’ to determine value to the community. This did play a partial role in determining which projects to fund over others up for consideration on a long list of possibilities, among other criteria. So if that is the only takeaway that an individual grasps, they only have a partial understanding of the benefit and necessity of these projects. But let’s remind ourselves of several key things that qualify this:

1)These future community assets that may prove beneficial to tourists are absolutely not exclusive of benefits to our local community. We would argue the opposite in this instance – our local trail-use community stands firmly behind this project and will no doubt use and benefit from its completion, maybe even more so than tourists. 

2) The funding for this project was a cost incurred between 2014-2023 by visitors in hotels and short-term rentals. The language in the 2013 ballot measure is specific that projects should have a significant benefit to visitors. We at RCR absolutely do not want to advocate against the extension of city-dwelling Core Trail segments, quite the opposite – but we are realistic when it comes to the better usage of a specific funding source and its intention. This is not an “either/or” type of argument. Are these funds best spent attempting to acquire easements for a ‘potential’ mile-long extension of the Core Trail South that has proven cost-prohibitive? No. Do we still want to see the Core Trail South progress by other means? Yes.

3) For anyone stuck on the ‘tourist’ angle, we see you. Many issues, not least of which is the current affordable housing crisis, are due in part to the fact that this community is a magnet for the wealthy, and it has driven out the working class. But please understand that our ultimate Achilles’ heel is not in the continued marketing of the place. It’s arguably the very structure of how our locality is financed entirely through sales tax, which is irrevocably tied to the tourism industry, which forms a major backbone to our economy. Arguably our town should (could?) be funded differently. But that is a different conversation, for another time. 

We would urge our community to put this all in perspective. The trails that already exist on our network are a treasured set of places for locals to get outside and escape the difficulties of modern life. More people seeking (and finding) more opportunities to access these experiences is ultimately a good thing for humanity. Accessing nature will mentally and emotionally prepare us better to face the many challenges ahead for all of us as a species. Do not lose sight of the positive. Do not become bogged down by false dichotomies. Trail advocates can also be conservationists. A community asset that benefits tourists can also provide great solace and reprieve to locals. Trails can be funded by public dollars while we also continue to make progress alongside various other community needs and priorities. We are here for all of it.

 

Laraine Martin

Executive Director, Routt County Riders