Mad Rabbit Adaptive Management Plan

HISTORY: Mad Rabbit is a proposed trails project stretching from Mad Creek to Rabbit Ears Pass. It is controversial because many of the proposed trails are routed through elk summer range, calving areas, and Colorado Roadless Areas. As a result of the Objection process in late 2023, the Forest Supervisor instructed the District Ranger, Michael Woodbridge, to collaboratively develop an adaptive management plan (AMP) with Colorado DNR (Division of Resources) and CPW (Colorado Parks and Wildlife). The collaboratively developed plan was unveiled in August 2024 at the Routt Recreation and Conservation Roundtable.

With this final document produced, the Forest Service was poised to finish up the EA (Environmental Assessment) called out in the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process. This final approval would allow the project to succeed.

Before getting final approval, the Forest Service asked the City Council of Steamboat Springs to fund Mad Rabbit by transferring approximately $1.6M of city “2A” funds to the Forest Service. On November 19, 2024 the Forest Service presented the overall plan as well as the AMP. They requested that Colorado DNR remove their objection to the project, which DNR did do, conditional on the current AMP being included in the final Decision. The theory here is that the AMP could keep the project within the bounds of “no significant impact” by continuously monitoring key metrics - wildlife, overall usage, noxious weeds, etc., and then taking action to mitigate the problem.

The Forest Service presented to City Council on November 19, 2024, with much discussion about the AMP and Colorado DNR and CPW removing their objection and supporting the project. A final vote in favor of a funding resolution passed 5-2 on December 3, 2024.

Then something disturbing happened.

The Forest Service secretly altered the AMP they had developed with DNR/CPW and had presented to Council. It removed key environmental and wildlife protections previously agreed to by all parties. Specifically the altered plan…

  • Reversed Phase 2 and 3 of the three phase plan, delaying removal of illegal trails to Phase 3, while accelerating development of trails in the sensitive Ferndale area.

  • Eliminated the restriction against constructing two phases in a single calendar year. This previously gave some time to review the impacts from the completed phase.

  • Eliminated the elk monitoring study in the plan, which was to measure changes in elk presence and behavior in the nearby calving areas.

  • Eliminated CPW as a reviewing partner for many critical aspects of the project, including:

    • Special Events planning.

    • Coordinating with CPW biologists “during final trail layout & construction to minimize impacts to wildlife.”

    • Consulting with CPW biologists during elk calving season.

    • Coordinating with CPW for any changes to zones or phases.

These changes were done secretly with no input from Colorado DNR or CPW, and then released publicly along with the final EA approval on April 3, 2025.

After reviewing the multiple changes in the plan, Colorado DNR and CPW reinstated their objection on April 21, 2025.

The Forest Service has now disputed that it agreed with all the contents of the AMP, though they promoted the AMP to the Steamboat Springs City Council, including specific features they would later alter or delete. They are stating that they do not intend to change the current AMP, though they have the ability to do so with an amended Decision Notice.

However, the funding from the City is not guaranteed. The resolution passed in December indicated the Council wished to transfer $1.6M to the Forest Service, but was not the final funding ordinance which was initially scheduled for late May 2025. With these changes the City Council has postponed the Mad Rabbit funding topic until an undefined date June 2025.

The Steamboat Springs City Council needs to hear from you!

Write to the City Council using one of the 3 link buttons below to request that they hold off from funding Mad Rabbit unless the Forest Service reinstates the original Adaptive Management Plan. Each of the following buttons automatically opens a different draft email addressed to City Council. Click it, change any text you wish, sign and send. That’s it!

The above button loads text asking that the adaptive management plan be reinstated. It is written to be slightly more “Steamboat and Routt County” oriented.

The above button loads text asking that the adaptive management plan be reinstated. It is written to be used by people outside of Routt County and focuses on the advantages of adaptive management plans, but warns that people may be reluctant to use them if the Forest Service is perceived to be acting in bad faith.

This could be used by locals or by people around the mountain west. It focuses on the changes in the plan, and the risk that now nobody will want to use adaptive management if they know the plan can be jettisoned by the Forest Service.

VIDEO

7Minute video summary of Forest Service misleading steamboat city council

Click on image on left to watch a fact-checked video of the Forest Service speaking to City Council on Mad Rabbit