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Your Last Chance to Weigh In Has Arrived.

The Bureau of Land Management is preparing to make a plan to manage camping and associated vehicle routes in Chaffee County and is seeking early public input to help inform the plan.

The need to develop a camping management plan is in direct response to increased demand for high-quality camping experiences. When combined with this county’s documented increases in the past year in impacts to natural resources, increases in human waste due to lack of facilities, trash, as well as conflicts between visitors and other public land users — the need is visible. The deadline to weigh in is Thursday, May 19.

Area for Chaffee County Camping and Travel Management Plan. Image courtesy BLM.

The management plan’s goal is to address issues and concerns associated with camping on public lands as well as meet the demand for a range of camping opportunities.

There is also a need to establish a designated route network for areas with high camping demand but a travel management plan is not currently in place. This includes highly visited public lands such as Shavano. The plan also intends to put into place monitoring and management strategies to respond to changes in demand and visitor behavior.

To provide comments, visit https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2012291/510

Topics for consideration:

  • Are there certain areas where BLM should limit camping to designated sites only? Which areas? And in these areas are there certain existing campsites that should or should not be designated and why?
  • Are there areas where BLM should consider constructing a developed campground to best meet demand and manage impacts to resources?
  • Are there areas where BLM should consider not allowing camping?
  • In the Shavano area, how should BLM think about managing camping in response to the high volume of demand the area has recently seen? Are there any roads in this area that should be closed or designated to best manage camping and reduce impacts to other public land users and neighbors?