Forest planners acknowledge that there must be a balance between establishing more campsites and maintaining natural forestland.
Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Demand for campsites is increasing. Can more campgrounds help?
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Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Campsite near Toroweap Overlook, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Charlie Gza, Flickr ([link removed])
In light of increasing demand to camp along Colorado's front range, planners of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests are studying ([link removed]) ways to add campsites and to make reserving sites more equitable.
The planners acknowledge, however, that there must be a balance between establishing more campsites and maintaining the natural state of untouched forestland. “I don’t think we’re ever going to meet all the demand for people who want to camp on the Front Range,” said ([link removed]) forest spokesman Reid Armstrong. “We have a limited amount of land, and we want to protect it. We want to preserve it for future generations.”
The Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests have 59 total campgrounds with 1,400 campsites which can be reserved up to six months in advance, meaning campsite reservations for the summer are snatched up as early as January. In order to make campsites more accessible to folks who cannot get vacation approval that early in the year, forest officials are brainstorming ways to incorporate a rolling reservation system that provides opportunities to reserve sites as summer gets closer.
Increasing amounts of campers on public lands is a phenomenon that is not unique to Colorado. From 2014 to 2020, there was a nearly 40 percent increase ([link removed]) in reservable campsite occupancy in the Lower 48, with a particularly significant increase in weekday camping. Recent reports ([link removed]'s%20popularity,in%20the%20last%20two%20years.) demonstrate that these trends show no signs of slowing down—over the last four years, the share of campers who report having trouble finding an open campsite has skyrocketed.
** Quick hits
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Fishers, hunters push for proposed Owyhee Canyonlands National Monument
FOX 12 ([link removed])
Wildfires scorch more than 1.4 million acres in Oregon, authorities say
Associated Press ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
In Colorado, endangered boreal toads appear to be making a comeback thanks to reintroduction efforts
CPR News ([link removed])
Conservationists try to protect ecologically rich Alabama delta from development, climate change
Associated Press ([link removed])
Tribes, conservationists look to future as Arizona's newest national monument turns one
Arizona Republic ([link removed])
Wolverines may return to Colorado
High Country News ([link removed])
The BLM’s Rock Springs resource management plan expected any day now
Wyoming Public Radio ([link removed])
Rez dogs in New Mexico are feeling the heat from climate change
Source NM ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” It's just an incredible landscape. For folks who haven't been to that corner of Oregon, they'll be surprised to see thousand-foot cliffs, deep rushing rivers, and expansive sagebrush plains. We focus in on some of these key places like the Owyhee because they're worthy of that intensive effort to give them the protection they deserve.”
—Ryan Houston, Executive Director at Oregon Natural Desert Association, FOX 12 ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
Friend shaped, yes. But don’t let this sweet face fool you – the American marten can be aggressive and territorial. These carnivorous mammals have short legs and curved claws that help them climb trees and chase prey, like squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits.
Photo by Jacob W. Frank / @nationalparkservice ([link removed])
#pinemarten ([link removed]) #wildlife ([link removed]) #usinterior ([link removed]) #yellowstone ([link removed])
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