"WE WON!!!" Those were the words
emailed to the COHVCO BOD on June 10th by Andrew Wight, COHVCO Staff
Attorney.
COHVCO has been representing the interests of the Grand
Mesa Jeep Club (“Jeep Club”) in the Interior Board of
Land Appeals (IBLA) proceedings on an “environmental”
organization’s appeal of the BLM’s decision to construct
an extreme jeep trail in the Bangs Canyon Special Management Area
near Grand Junction.
The Grand Junction Field office of the BLM had approved a project
to construct an “extreme jeep trail” in Billings Canyon.
The Jeep Club has been involved in this proposal for more than three
years and has promised to adopt the trail and provide financial support,
labor, and equipment time to its upkeep after it is constructed.
The usual suspects, including the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC),
internally protested the BLM decision, and their protest was denied.
On May 5, 2003 the CMC filed a Notice of Appeal and Petition for Stay
Pending Appeal with the Department of Interior Board of Land Appeals
(IBLA) to stop the construction of the trail. (The IBLA is basically
the Department Of Interior’s administrative appeals process,
similar to the internal Forest Service process). The CMC was asking
that the project be enjoined while its appeal is heard, and, of course,
that the approval of the project be reversed by the IBLA so that the
trail is never constructed.
The Jeep Club had requested the legal assistance of COHVCO in intervening
in the CMC appeal and fighting the CMC to ensure that the trail becomes
a reality. The COHVCO Board approved of COHVCO’s participation
in late 2002.
On May 15, 2003, COHVCO filed a Motion to Intervene in the CMC’s
appeal on behalf of itself and the Jeep Club. On May 16, 2003 the
motion for extension was granted.
The first week in June 2004, the IBLA informed Andrew of the denial
of CMC’s appeal, thus, the “WE WON” email. Indications
are the CMC will not appeal this decision, mainly because they did
not have enough “facts” that the trail would cause severe
resource damage. The trail is mainly up a rocky wash similar to the
Independence Trail in Penrose.
The Grand Mesa Jeep Club is to be congratulated for taking the initiative
in organizing and pursuing the opening of a new trail in Colorado.
The trail is scheduled to open in June or July of 2004.
For additional information, contact the Grand Mesa club’s Roy
Joseph at 970-241-6250.
