More Information: Bob Olivier, 970/325-4116, bobliststuff@myrealbox.com
or Kitty Benzar, 970/259-4616.
The Yankee Boy Regional Conservation Association has been formed
to help with management of the popular jeeping and hiking area south
of Ouray. The groups focus will be on the use of volunteers, rather
than fees as authorized under the Recreation Fee Demo Program, for
resource protection, visitor information, as well as trail maintenance.
The citizen committee chartered by the Ouray County Board of County
Commissioners is endeavoring to draft a plan to satisfy the Ouray
BOCC with the objective of removing daily use fees and instituting
a significant volunteer presence in the summer of 2003. As the U.S.
Forest Service currently controls management of the area they, too,
are actively involved in the writing of this new volunteer-oriented
plan. The region includes the popular Yankee Boy Basin and Imogene
Pass 4WD roads and the trailhead for Mt Sneffels, a Colorado "Fourteener."
The committee, which recently filed to incorporate as the Yankee
Boy Regional Conservation Association, began meeting at the request
of Commissioner Bill Ferguson to discuss the fee program and consider
management alternatives. At the committee's first meeting on February
19th, numerous citizens expressed fear that fees destroy the sense
of ownership of public lands, reduce volunteerism, and damage tourism.
All agreed, however, that the Yankee Boy Basin area has experienced
a dramatic increase in visitation in recent years and that some form
of caretaker presence needs to be in place to help minimize visitor
impacts. How to provide and fund that presence without a mandatory
fee has been the focus of subsequent meetings. Participation thus
far has included several interested individuals, the Ouray County
BOCC, and members representing a wide range of groups including the
Ouray Trail Group, the Ridgway-Ouray Community Council, the San Juan
Mountains Association, the Western Slope No Fee Coalition, and the
U.S. Forest Service.
At its fifth meeting on March 27th, the committee discussed a request
that the Ouray County BOCC ask the Forest Service to discontinue the
$5 mandatory day-use fee that they have collected since the summer
of 2001. As the new management plan nears completion, it is expected
that this request will occur and the Forest Service will respond favorably.
Overnight camping fees, currently $7 per night, will continue to be
charged.
The new Association plans to implement an "Alpine Host"
program with volunteers who will monitor the area regularly and provide
education and information to visitors. The volunteer program will
be funded with donations, annual memberships, and fundraising events.
In addition, the Forest Service will staff two of the area's campgrounds
with volunteer resident hosts who will oversee the facilities, collect
camping fees, and provide positive contacts with guests, in return
for a free campsite for the season.
"We are looking forward to working closely with the Ouray County
BOCC and the Forest Service. We feel this Association can meet the
needs of the resource while guaranteeing public access for the future"
said YBRCA President Bob Oliver, a Ouray resident who lives in the
Canyon Creek drainage. "We hope to transform it into a national
model of how a voluntary cooperative effort can succeed in maintaining
free public access while sustaining the health and vigor of the land."
The newly formed Yankee Boy Regional Conservation Association will
begin recruiting volunteers and raising funds in early April when
their articles of incorporation are complete. For more information
contact Bob Olivier, 970/325-4116, or Kitty Benzar, 970/259-4616.
