August 2000
Lynx plans could affect winter recreation
U.S. Forest officials say efforts to protect lynx habitat could affect winter recreation in the High Country, as land managers try to avoid creation of new compacted snow trails.
A lynx conservation agreement between the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service includes a commitment to limit impacts to lynx habitat at current levels. This "no-net-increase" policy stems from the desire of land managers to err on the side of caution, says Gary Patton, who has been coordinating the Colorado lynx effort for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
Snow compaction a critical issue in Vail Pass-to-Copper area, biologists say.
Patton says that, with a vulnerable lynx population, every piece of the conservation puzzle could be crucial. As a result, land managers will try to ensure there are no additional impacts in areas deemed to be "key landscapes."
Winter is especially crucial for the cats, who are deep-snow specialists. Their large paws enable them to hunt in deep, light powder, where they have a distinct advantage over other predators. Packed trails in lynx hunting grounds could enable competing predators to access an area, perhaps to the detriment of lynx.
The move to limit packed-snow trails could, for example, result in limits on some winter activities in the area between Vail Pass and Copper Mountain. This area has been identified as a critical movement corridor - a landbridge that allows lynx and other forest species to move north and south between larger areas of habitat.
Minturn-based USFS biologist, Joe Doerr, says that since the lynx was listed as threatened by the FWS, all Forest Service projects must be reviewed for compliance, but activities that result in snow compaction are getting special scrutiny.
That could affect plans for a proposed new backcountry shelter in the vicinity of Vail Pass. The so-called Lewis Hut would need a new access trail - but that would mean closing down some other trail to avoid a net increase in impacts.
The conservation strategy is still being finalized, so Doerr says it's not completely clear yet how things will play out. But there could also be some effect on the recreation fee demonstration project that's under way at Vail Pass. For the past several years, backcountry users have paid a day-use fee, mainly to fund signage, trail maps and enforcement.
With all the activity in the Vail Pass area, there is potential for a "significant" cumulative impact that could trigger formal consultation with the FWS, according to Doerr. In the case of listed species, the FWS has ultimate veto power. "All the winter activity may not continue," he says.
But there is also a provision in the Endangered Species Act that provides for the incidental "taking" of listed species, as long the effect of the taking is limited, Doerr explains. Under that provision, some activities could continue without penalty, even if they result in a loss of habitat. That clause was used to allow Vail's Blue Sky Basin expansion into potential lynx habitat, Doerr says.
Besides avoiding any increases in the amount of packed-snow trails, other conservation measures could include buffer zones around known denning sites, and possibly even limits on any new nighttime activities like grooming and snowmaking at lift-served ski areas.
Patton says that any one of these potential restrictions might not make a huge difference on its own, but that together, they could prove important to lynx survival.
Conservation activists say additional measures are needed, including detailed mapping of critical habitat.
"Mapping would give more certainty," says Jasper Carlton of the Biodiversity Legal Foundation. "It would tell us exactly where the movement corridors are, and that would enable us to prevent encroachment."
Carlton, whose group sued the FWS to spur the listing, says that, for the long-term, the Forest Service should also consider the use of fire to create successional forests, thus providing habitat for a prey base. He says the agency may have to consider some constraints on logging, as well as closure of some high elevation roads.