Silverton Travel Management Plan

ALERT

HELP Re-OPEN motorized Single-track near Silverton

COMMENTS DUE No Later than February 22, 2020

The San Juan Trail Riders (SJTR), Trails Preservation Alliance (TPA), Public Access Preservation Alliance (PAPA) and the Colorado 500 organization have all partnered together and are working with the Gunnison BLM Field Office to reopen a historic single-track motorcycle trail in the Silverton area.  We need your support in showing the BLM how important this route is to our sport.

The trail is designated as trail 2TE (aka Minnie Gulch) used in the past by many riders to get from the Silverton area to the Rio Grande National Forest Pole Creek trails. The Minnie Gulch trail was authorized for motorized use for more than 40 years before its closure in early 2000.  An authorization to re-establish the trail will again allow single-track motorized users in and around the Silverton area to readily connect to and from current motorized trail routes on the Rio Grande National Forest.  The 1.6 mile section of trail 2TE (Minnie Gulch) currently lies directly between two motorized connectors one on San Juan CR 24 and the other on the Rio Grande NF trail 917 where it terminates on the Colorado Trail.

The preliminary Environmental Assessment for the Silverton Travel Management Plan has been released and the public comment period is open until Feb. 22^nd.

With the opportunity for an additional second round of public comment, we’re requesting your support and encouragement to submit comments in support of the re-opening of the Minnie Gulch trail. Your comment for this proposed action does not need to be elaborate.

Comment Examples;

“As a supporter of motorized recreation on single track trails, I support the Silverton Travel Management Plan and the re-opening of the historical motorized single-track Minnie Gulch Trail. This section was authorized for motorized use for more than 40 years prior to its closure in early 2000. The authorization to re-establish the trail will again allow single-track motorized users in and around the Silverton area to readily connect to and from current motorized trail routes on the Rio Grande National Forest”

“As motorized recreation user who rides in the Silverton area several times during the summer, a single-track route to the Rio Grande Nation Forest is needed. The re-opening of the historical Minnie Gulch trail would fulfil this need”

“The re-opening of the 1.6 miles of historical Minnie Gulch trail will offer unique recreational opportunities for many recreation users”

To submit your electronic comments, follow the steps below: If you prefer to provide your comments as a hard copy, please refer to the attachment for instructions.

1. Click the link – https://go.usa.gov/xmMab
2. On the next screen you’ll see the Preliminary Environmental Assessment, Scoping letter and Scoping Summary, Previous Plan and External Proposal documents. We are commenting on the Preliminary Environmental Assessment document. This should be the first document on your screen.
3. On the right of the screen you will see a button “Comment on Document”
4. Click on the “Comment on Document” button
5. Note Silverton TMP Draft EA in the Comment Title box
6. Type comments in the larger box
7. Click “Next” in the lower right hand side of the screen
8. Populate your information – We are asking for your own personal comments. (SJTR, TPA, PAPA and Colorado 500 are all submitting their formal comments)
9. Click “Next”
10. Acknowledge Disclaimers and Agreements
11. Click “Submit” in lower right hand corner