Trouble near Boulder, Jeepers trying to claim private road Options

[59er]

Heads up: the Denver metro area Jeep clubs are attempting to claim that another private mining road is public for their joy rides and other entertainment. The miner that owns it has been experiencing vandalism and closed it to the vandals. Recent article in the Times-Call:

http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=7779

Here is a forum where the off-road clubs are debating whether or not to respect the owner's right to close his property:

http://colorado4x4.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=65365

This is happening alot in the front range where new uses are clashing with traditional uses.

[59er]

Looks like this is a done deal. I guess there wasn't any real evidence that this was a public road after all.

Publish Date: 7/16/2006

Forest access limited
Gates lead officials to cancel thinning plans

By Brad Turner
The Daily Times-Call

JAMESTOWN — U.S. Forest Service officials have canceled plans to thin 350 acres of trees south of town after a mining company and a resident installed three gates to block access to the area.

Hikers, mountain bikers and snowshoers will still have access to the area, known as Gillespie Gulch, but motorized traffic can’t access Forest Service Road 331, which links Jamestown to thousands of acres of national forest.

After spending $30,000 to grade the road in preparation for the forest-thinning project, Forest Service administrators canceled the plans in late June after a resident built a gate on a spot where the road crosses private property, Boulder District ranger Christine Walsh said.

“This is very disappointing,” Walsh said. “We’re just not going up there.”

The Forest Service, along with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and several area fire districts, will have keys to unlock the gates on Gillespie Gulch during emergencies. But the thinning project cannot move forward because the Forest Service cannot order contractors to pass through barricades onto private property, even if they have a key to the gate, Walsh said.

The 3,800-acre Overland Fire torched a dozen homes on the north side of Jamestown in 2003.

In May, a representative for Merendon Mining said the company planned to build two gates across the road near the Black Rose Mine. Vandals have caused thousands of dollars in damage to equipment at the gold mine over the past two decades, mining geologist Harald Hoegberg said.

The barricades at the mine would have left about a mile of the popular off-roading route open to vehicles. But a private property owner built a third gate at the bottom of the hill, blocking the road entirely, Walsh said.

A Jamestown resident who lives near the new gate, speaking anonymously, said residents have endured years of off-roaders driving and riding by their homes. While most of them were respectful, a handful revved their engines and even urinated on private property, the resident said.

Boulder resident Jason Sweger said he was disappointed to find the road blocked off recently after camping in the area for the past 13 years.

Sweger said he and his friends always tried to do minimal harm when camping in the forest, but acknowledged he had seen a few cases of destructive off-roading and reckless shooting over the years.

“I know it only takes a few people to ruin it for everybody,” he said. “I guess that’s what happened here.”

The gate at Black Rose will dramatically reduce the number of motorists in the forest between Jamestown and Left Hand Canyon Drive, Walsh said recently.

Boulder County commissioners shut down County Road 102J, which linked Jamestown to Gold Lake, in 1999, after town residents complained that erosion from the dirt road contaminated their drinking water.

With Gillespie Gulch blocked, the only remaining access point to the forest south of Jamestown is a trail off Left Hand Canyon Drive that is too steep and difficult for most vehicles.

Brad Turner can be reached at 720-494-5420, or by e-mail at bturner@times-call.com.