DENVER — The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission has approved $6.23 million to fund 60 OHV trail projects across the state.
The grants are funded by Colorado OHV (off-highway vehicle) registrations and the federal Recreational Trails Program, CPW said.
CPW State Trails Program Manager Fletcher Jacobs said this is OHV dollars going right back into the trails.
“This year we funded 33 maintenance trail crews across the state, 27 of which are Good Management crews, which allow our federal partners at the United State Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to get much needed consistent funding for trail crews," Jacobs said. "We were also excited to fund 19 weeks of youth corps crews that helps us to not only protect resources, but also allow young adult corps members to be exposed to careers in natural resources.”
The Colorado State Trails Committee reviews the trail grant applications and makes recommendations to the CPW Commission about funding for grants.
The grant applications are first reviewed by CPW wildlife field biologists and regional CPW staff, who flag any issues they find regarding wildlife. The applications are then sent to the OHV Grant Review and Ranking Subcommittee, where they are ranked in order of their recommended funding priority, CPW said. That is then sent along to the Colorado State Trails Committee to recommend funding strategies before they're passed along to the CPW Commission for final approval on funded projects. Public comments are welcome at four stages along the process.
Click here to learn about all of the 60 OHV trail projects.
CPW highlighted the following grant award winners in a press release Tuesday:
- OHV Statewide Trail Crew 2023: Funds will be used for the operations of a four-person Good Management crew who perform land stewardship work on multiple-use motorized trails on U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and state-owned land throughout Colorado. The crew will perform multiple trail maintenance and travel management tasks including constructing trail and drainage structures; installation of signs to inform and educate; building gates and buck-n-rail fences to regulate users and prevent resource damage; and performing visitor contacts to provide education, assistance, and enforcement of rules and regulations.
- Stay The Trail Education & Stewardship Alliance: Funding to continue and enhance the Stay The Trail Campaign throughout the state to promote responsible OHV recreation through educational programs, stewardship projects, direct user contacts, and resource protection/mitigation. The campaign will also work in bordering states in an effort to target and educate the many out-of-state trail users who visit Colorado.
- Donner Pass/Lookout Mountain Rehabilitation: Volunteers with Northern Colorado Trail Riders will perform restoration and maintenance of the Donner Pass Trail System of the Arapaho Roosevelt National in response to the Cameron Peak Fire. Work will include removing dead and downed trees, installing drainage structures to mitigate run-off/erosion issues, replacing trail kiosks and carsonite markers destroyed by fire, and repairing fire damaged bridges.
- North Zone OHV Crew : A motorized OHV crew will patrol, maintain, restore, and improve motorized routes on the North Zone, which includes all National Forest motorized routes within the Canyon Lakes Ranger District and Pawnee National Grassland. The two-person North Zone OHV Ranger Crew will coordinate work with the Larimer County Four Wheel Drive Club, Big Thompson 4-Wheelers, the Northern Colorado Trail Riders (NCTR), and Colorado 4x4 Rescue and Recovery to schedule volunteer work days.
- BLM Statewide (OHV) Law Enforcement: The BLM will conduct law enforcement details and/or saturation patrols in key areas and times of the year where OHV management is a priority. BLM law enforcement officers will patrol areas, contacting public land users and OHV operators, focusing efforts on public education, monitoring, public safety, reporting and enforcement of OHV regulations and registration requirements.
