[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Additional Questions for staff on Horse access to West TSA

[kohls at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Wilson, Ken

Mike,

I wanted to pass on some additional questions that have been communicated to me by members of the community who are more familiar with problem areas than I am.  I would appreciate it if you could address these issues during the staff presentation next week.  Thank you.   Ken Wilson


1.       The packet from OSMP staff included a review of the overall literature on management of horses in natural areas (Attachment B), but no review of OSMP experience in recent years. Some commenters have mentioned specific problem areas, including social trails being generated by equestrians east of Cherryvale, and weed proliferation associated with a social trail extending up onto the mesa from the Doudy Draw Trail. Are these areas becoming problems? If they have generated problems, what plans are in place to deal with them, and what are the lessons for adaptive management?


2.       Attachment B and other aspects of the package rely heavily on the assumption of low levels of equestrian activity. Since several properties on county land adjoining OSMP lands are zoned agricultural and would allow a by-right livery operation with quite large numbers of horses, what are the provisions for monitoring the level of equestrian use and adaptive management alternatives should that use increase substantially?



3.       There is currently a substantial amount of social trail use in the vicinity of South Boulder Creek north of Eldorado Springs Drive by fishermen and dog walkers to gain access to the creek, as well as by pedestrians from the neighborhood. What monitoring has been done, and what are the plans for managing this use and avoiding the kind of denudation that we experienced near the Bobolink Trail? How do these plans interact with the planned relocation of the South Boulder Creek Trail? What are the implications for the issue of equestrian access from private property between the Creek and Eldorado Springs Drive, and how can adaptive management be applied in this area?



4.       In Option C, what is the rationale for equestrian off-trail use in the summit area of Flagstaff, particularly with regard to rare plant communities near some of the trails? Since several of the potential dog-free loop opportunities that have been proposed for the West TSA are in this area, and one of the claimed advantages is resource protection, would off-trail equestrian use there eliminate those possibilities?