Rocky Mountain Biological Lab and Gothic road- locking us out of paradise?

Its been 10 years since snowmobilers got the boot from the east river valley and gothic road. Now they have the everyday road user in their sights for elimination. They will tell you its about safety or science, but it really comes down to them wanting a private valley, free of all outsiders. The County has put together a task force to consider the ideas for closing FS road 317 to the public. This is one of those classic mountain drives, doable in a 2 wheel drive car . It goes to Emerald Lake and then on to Paradise Divide. This is the road most of us take our friends and family on when the come for a visit. Its got all the classic Rocky Mountain scenery in one afternoon drive.

Here are some sections of the RMBL vision statement from their website: UV stands for upper valleys

In order to continue to successfully carry out its mission, RMBL needs to retain the resources that have contributed to its success in the past, and that will allow RMBL to facilitate the ever-changing face of ecological and evolutionary research:

Access, in the vicinity of Gothic, to diverse natural habitats in which ecological processes are relatively unaltered by landscape fragmentation, habitat alteration, or ongoing intervention from human activities
Continued regional availability of, and access to, undisturbed habitats represented in the East River Valley. Regional availability throughout the Gunnison Basin allows replication and permits the Lab to foster research at the larger spatial scales on which ecologists and evolutionary biologists are now focusing
Protection of study sites, study organisms, and equipment from disturbance by humans, their motorized vehicles, or their pets
Some degree of isolation from everyday urban stresses, which allows scientists to think and work without distraction and which contributes to the sense of community

Specific trends in the UV and why they are causes for concern include the following.

Encroaching residential, business, and recreational development in the UV directly reduces habitat availability and habitat quality, eliminating and degrading sites for research and education.
Development can lead to loss of publicly owned lands (e.g., through land exchanges), and to degradation of the natural habitats on them (e.g., due to altered hydrology; water, dust, noise, and light pollution; and increased human uses). This is of particular concern for public lands in the UV.
Development can also lead to economic pressure on large landowners, such as ranchers, which leads to further loss of natural lands.
New ski runs on Snodgrass Mountain above or crossing the Gothic Road could directly impact avalanche hazard to RMBL’s personnel and facilities, as well as interfere with winter cross-country ski access to RMBL along the Gothic road.
Development indirectly impacts RMBL via increased intensity of traffic and human recreational activity in the UV. Indirect impacts which are especially noticable in the UERV include:
Direct hazard to RMBL property and personnel from vandalism, theft, increased motorized traffic, wildfire risk, road dust
Conflicts with research and education from noise, interference with observations, disturbance to vegetation or animals, added mortality of study populations, introduction of non-native organisms, reduction in aesthetic appeal of RMBL as a place to study and work
Reduction in sense of integrity of the RMBL community from influx of strangers and the accompanying commotion and sense of crowding. This reduces RMBL’s ability to attract and retain researchers and students.
Economic costs to RMBL when visitors use its facilities (toilets, water, telephones, computers) and seek assistance from RMBL personnel (medical emergencies, rescue operations, information, advice)

let the task force know what you think of this at the next meeting.

Denver Post Article on Gothic Road

the rmbl website