Share the Slate believes in education. Not only do we believe that different winter recreation users need to understand one another’s needs and desires, we also believe that all winter recreation users need to become informed about the Winter Travel Management Process.

In the GMUG (Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests), the Winter Travel Management Process is supposed to begin in 2020. Even though that may seem far into the future, the date is quickly approaching. Yet, Winter Travel Management is a relatively new process which came out of the Over Snow Vehicle Ruling which became activated in February 2015. This ruling was in response to a group called Winter Wildlands Alliance suing the National Forest, requiring National Forests to include Winter Travel Management as part of their designations.

While keeping an eye on those undergoing Winter Travel Planning, we also need to focus on how we can most positively impact our own Winter Travel Management process. In order to have the greatest impact, we all (both individuals and organizations) need to become educated on the issues and process at hand. The lecture series created as a partnership between the Gunnison National Forest and the Masters of Environmental Management Program at Western College University in Gunnison provided a great opportunity to start becoming educated on this topic. The goal of this post is to share the important information distributed at the lectures to you.

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So, let’s back up and remember why Share the Slate began… We began a few years back because a segment of our local population expressed interest in reducing motorized use or access to our winter recreation areas. But, the main reason why this segment of the population felt empowered was due to the OSV (Over-Snow Vehicle) Ruling which became law in February, 2015. Basically, a group called Winter Wildlands Alliance sued the National Forest, requiring the already financially-burdened organization to create Winter Travel Management Plans (summer ones already existed) for every National Forest. It’s taken some years for them to really start this process, but the first Winter Travel Management Plans are just now being developed. Even though these are currently located in California, these are extremely important to us in Colorado as they will set the precedent for future Winter Travel Management Plans – and ours is coming soon!

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In a recent letter, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory wrote, “RMBL fully supports Share the Slate in their efforts to develop this winter recreation layer to the already existing CBG Trails app. This app will be a great educational tool that will help preserve existing RMBL research as well as our public lands!”

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This winter recreation app will have many other benefits as well. First, it will educate locals and visitors alike about what trails and zones are designated for what use which will in turn help spread out usage. This will hopefully reduce some of our more crowded trailheads as users may opt to explore alternative areas on busy days. Additionally, winter recreationalists can identify where they want to go and whether they want a mixed-use experience or a more selective experience. And last, we hope that it will minimize conflicts among winter recreationalists and hopefully help people have an overall better experience.

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