The Decalibron 14ers Are Closing Again

[amderr22]

All of the landowners working with us....

Sorry if I missed this, but, who is "US,"
Are you a member or staff of an organization that is working on this?
Or is 'us' just a general term for all of us who are interested in this?

Thanks
Joel

I'm participating in the coalition as a CMC member and volunteer, and as a representative of my own org, The Next Summit; Both organizations are part of the broader coalition of 32-ish groups endorsing the bill (the number keeps rising). The CMC's Conservation Staff have played a central role as a convener and coalition-builder; their team is really to thank for keeping it alive and putting in the legwork. I helped with some initial policy research on the issue, and now I've been tasked with updating online communities impacted by the issue and starting some initial grassroots organizing work for future initiatives.

The full list of non-profits, businesses, and public sector supporters, as of now, includes:
Access Fund
American Alpine Club
Bicycle Colorado
Boulder Climbing Community
Central Colorado Cattlemen's Association
Colorado Civil Justice League
Colorado Farm Bureau
Colorado Fourteeners Initiative
Colorado Mountain Club
Colorado Springs Utilities
Colorado Water Congress
Continental Divide Trail Association
International Council of Shopping Centers
International Mountain Biking Association
Mosquito Range Heritage Initiative
The Next Summit
Open Boulder
Outdoor Alliance
Park County Board of Commissioners
People for Bikes
Rec Law
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union
Rocky Mountain Wild
The Town of Alma
The Wilderness Society
Trails and Open Space Coalition
Trust for Public Land
Ute Water Conservancy District
Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association
Winter Wildlands Alliance

[Scott P]

Just a reminder that much of those mountains still have a lot of public land on them.

Here's the closest you can get to the summits without steeping on private land:

Lincoln = 146 vertical feet, but the horizontal distance is greater on Lincoln than on the other peaks.

Cameron = summit

Bross = 32 vertical feet

Democrat = 88 vertical feet

[BillMiddlebrook]

All of the landowners working with us....

Sorry if I missed this, but, who is "US,"
Are you a member or staff of an organization that is working on this?
Or is 'us' just a general term for all of us who are interested in this?

Thanks
Joel

Lol. Apparently everyone except us

[amderr22]

All of the landowners working with us....

Sorry if I missed this, but, who is "US,"
Are you a member or staff of an organization that is working on this?
Or is 'us' just a general term for all of us who are interested in this?

Thanks
Joel

Lol. Apparently everyone except us

I bet they'd be quite excited to add you to the list - just let us know

[ekalina]

CFI and CMC's work to reopen the Decalibron in 2021 by installing signs, surveying visitors, and recruiting peak stewards to educate visitors is an example of that in action.

Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful that these organizations opened up access, even temporarily, to Democrat, Cameron, and Lincoln. But, I think it is disingenuous to frame it as having opened Decalibron. Bross stayed closed. That looks to continue regardless of whether changes are made to the CRUS.

Sorry to come across as a stickler. I just think it is important not to overstate what has, and can be, accomplished. Especially when part of the work that was done involved sticking a big "no trespassing" sign in front of the spur trail to Bross. That is in direct conflict with implying that Decalibron was reopened.

[amderr22]

CFI and CMC's work to reopen the Decalibron in 2021 by installing signs, surveying visitors, and recruiting peak stewards to educate visitors is an example of that in action.

Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful that these organizations opened up access, even temporarily, to Democrat, Cameron, and Lincoln. But, I think it is disingenuous to frame it as having opened Decalibron. Bross stayed closed. That looks to continue regardless of whether changes are made to the CRUS.

Sorry to come across as a stickler. I just think it is important not to overstate what has, and can be, accomplished. Especially when part of the work that was done involved sticking a big "no trespassing" sign in front of the spur trail to Bross. That is in direct conflict with implying that Decalibron was reopened.

True I suppose - the bill would re-open three peaks and help re-open the fourth. That's the totally accurate statement. The Bross closure is pretty unique due to the multiple fractional owners of the summit claim. The ownership is complicated due to historical sales, with many passed down in families, and a few owners unaware it is in their possession. It led to two problems: 1. several of the known owners oppose access. John is one owner and is okay with access, but at least one other known out-of-state owner doesn't, primarily due to liability concerns and annoyance with LNT violations. 2. several of the owners remain either unknown or unresponsive and thus cannot affirmatively agree to allow access - legally speaking, unanimous agreement is required.

This bill would help re-open Bross as it would address the concerns of the known owners who do not currently support public access (universal agreement is required). However, the second issue - unknown/unresponsive owners - would still keep it closed.

CMC and CFI did some work years ago to identify and reach out to as many of the owners as possible to get access approval. However, they were only able to identify some of them, and most letters and messages went unanswered. Because multiple owners remain unknown/unresponsive, I think an eminent domain action would be pretty difficult and time-consuming due to the constitutional requirement to compensate owners and give them due process. It would take the state a while to track down all the owners, serve legal notice, and in some cases they might have to go to court just to figure out who owns it in the first place.

It's a major barrier to public access that might require a legislative solution someday. That said, the issue of fractional summit ownership is a unique problem among the 8 privately owned peaks - maybe with the exception of Mount Sherman (it's owned by a consortium of mining companies currently going through bankruptcy). My guess is the USFS or a nonprofit will buy it and make sure that stays open for good.

[JROSKA]

Effective immediately. You'll have to do it discreetly.

Other than parking in Alma & doing all the peaks overnight in the dark, I wonder if it’ll be possible to be “discreet” with those peaks. I could see Lindsey being difficult to enforce (in practice) but for Decalibron given the proximity of the TH area to Alma I’d imagine there will be a fair degree of regulation & enforcement as we get into the spring and summer months. There are already “no trespassing” signs all over the place and likely by summer a locked gate below the TH with a sign. Doesn’t seem like it would be difficult at all for them to monitor the road.

[Scott P]

There are already “no trespassing” signs all over the place and likely by summer a locked gate below the TH with a sign. Doesn’t seem like it would be difficult at all for them to monitor the road.

The road is a public road to Kite Lake and the land owners can't close that road. They can however disallow people parking on their private land (though Kite Lake itself has areas to park on public land). Kite Lake itself still has public access and there are other areas accessed from that trailhead that will remain open.

[Scott P]

True I suppose - the bill would re-open three peaks and help re-open the fourth.

Just for clarification, Cameron is not closed. The owners were bought out and the land has public access. It has been like that for a few years now. Of course it's not a great mountain or even a real mountain at all, but it isn't closed and is open to the public.

[JROSKA]

There are already “no trespassing” signs all over the place and likely by summer a locked gate below the TH with a sign. Doesn’t seem like it would be difficult at all for them to monitor the road.

The road is a public road to Kite Lake and the land owners can't close that road. They can however disallow people parking on their private land (though Kite Lake itself has areas to park on public land). Kite Lake itself still has public access and there are other areas accessed from that trailhead that will remain open.

Curious - can law enforcement see the private property areas from around Kite Lake? I suppose they could regulate it that way. And greet people on the way down with fines. But I guess that only works if the private property line can be seen from down low.

[JROSKA]

I do remember back in 2012 when I summited Lincoln, there was a vehicle on Bross’ summit and apparently on that day (a weekend in August) anyone who reached it was greeted with a ticket / fine.

[Scott P]

Curious - can law enforcement see the private property areas from around Kite Lake?

The summits (except for Cameron) are private land, so yes. You can see Bross and Democrat from Kite Lake. I doubt it's regularly patrolled, but you can definitely see it.