Founded in July 2006, Gunnison Trails is a 501c3 not-for-profit trail advocacy organization. Gunnison Trails has worked with local land management agencies to improve the non-motorized trail opportunities on the vast public lands surrounding the community of Gunnison, Colorado.
Foundation elements are:
- Assisting and working closely with local land managers from the Bureau of Land Management and the United States Forest Service on trail related projects and issues.
- Maintaining existing trails and trail infrastructure.
- Educating trail users and promoting responsible use of Gunnison area trails.
- Proposing, gaining consent and approval for, and constructing new trails and new trail systems.
Since organizing in 2006, Gunnison Trails has:
- Racked up countless volunteer hours working on trails in the field; educating trail users; attending meetings with the public and with land managers; creating and presenting proposals for trails improvements on public lands near Gunnison, CO; as well as other trail advocacy tasks.
- Maintained the more than 40 miles of trails in the Hartman Rocks area on BLM public lands, most of which had never been maintained before. A component of this maintenance has been to construct substantial and robust trail features that armor the trail against the elements and use.
- Assisted the BLM in rerouting several trails that were in areas of natural resource concern and helped educate trail users about why these trails had to be moved.
- Worked closely with land managers at the BLM and Forest Service on the recently completed Travel Planning Process.
- Helped trail users to understand and honor season trail closure for wildlife protection.
- Has contributed more than $2,500 toward trail related projects and efforts on BLM public lands.
