Molas Pass

YOUR SUPPORT NEEDED
in the form of letters to the Forest Service

December 1999 --- Please take a few minutes to offer the Forest Service your thoughts about appropriate zones for cross-country skiing vs. snowmobiling at Andrews Lake and Little Molas Lake.

What's the Deal?

Because of complaints from skiers during last winter's compressed ski season, the Forest Service has reevaluated the current recreation management around Molas Pass. The San Juan National Forest has issued a Draft Environmental Assessment laying out four alternative management schemes for separating cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and other non-motorized recreation activities from snowmobiling and commercial snowcat operations.

The alternatives range from doing nothing ? i.e., leaving both sides of Molas Pass open to unrestricted snowmobiling ? to limiting snowmobiles to one side of the pass or the other.

  • Alternative 1 is No Action -- snowmobiles can go anywhere on the east (Andrews Lake) or west (Little Molas Lake) sides of Molas Pass.
  • Alternative 2 -- Andrews Lake is closed to motorized use, and snowmobiles restricted to west side of the Pass (Little Molas area)
  • Alternative 3 -- Little Molas Lake is closed to motorized use, and snowmobiles restricted to east side of the Pass (Andrews Lake area)
  • Alternative 4 -- Andrews Lake is closed to motorized use, but 3,600 acres of presently closed areas in North Lime Creek, within the San Miguel Roadless Area, are opened to snowmobiles.

What's the Problem?

Most skiers value the muffled quiet of deep winter, lung-fulls of fresh clean air, and the silent glide of skis on fresh ski tracks. The noise and exhaust of snowmobiles destroys the very character of the experience sought by skiers. Frozen, corrugated snowmobile tracks are a poor substitute for tracks set by other skiers. For these reasons, skiers desire separation of snowmobiling and cross-country skiing areas on Molas Pass.

On the San Juan National Forest, there is no easy terrain next to plowed highway passes where snowmobiles are prohibited. Because of limited winter access, skiers must park along these highways and ski several miles to reach non-motorized zones. Many novice skiers, and those with young families, have no non-motorized zones to ski on our high passes. Molas Pass, and Andrews Lake specifically, offers outstanding easy and intermediate skiing terrain for novices and families.

What Can I Do?

Most local skiers seem to prefer closing the east side of Molas Pass to snowmobiles, thereby making Andrews Lake off-limit to snowmobiles. This is Alternative 2.

However, it is also critical to defend against opening up even more terrain to snowmobiles, as envisioned by Alternative 4. This alternative, which allows snowmobiles onto several thousand acres along North Lime Creek inside the San Miguel Roadless Area, would obliterate with motorized tracks the only forested corridor across the divide into the Mineral Creek watershed. A strip of forest cover along North Lime Creek is all that remains in this century-old subalpine burn, and it crosses a low saddle into Bear Creek. The continuous forest cover in an otherwise open, alpine zone is important to lynx and pine marten as a movement corridor.

Tell the San Juan National Forest your opinion in a letter. Call them at (970) 884-2512 or check http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/sanjuan/ for a copy of the Molas Pass Winter Use Environmental Assessment.

Please make the following points in your comments:

  • Skiers want areas to ski around Molas Pass without the noise and exhaust of snowmobiles, and where snow conditions are maintained for quality skiing experiences;
  • Because many novices and families use Andrews Lake, the area around it should be closed to snowmobiles for safety and to promote a quality experience;
  • It is unacceptable to sacrifice 3,600 acres of currently closed terrain within the San Miguel Roadless Area to new, expanded motorized use as proposed by Alternative 4.

Written (not e-mail) comments should be addressed by January 15, 2000 to:

Michael Johnson
Columbine District Ranger
P.O. Box 439
Bayfield, CO 81122
(970) 884-2512