Welcome to the March 2021 Keep Routt Wild Newsletter!

In this newsletter we will alert you to bears awakening from hibernation, summarize local seasonal closures, and announce the new district ranger for the Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District. 

As a reminder, Keep Routt Wild is a community organization dedicated to preserving wildlife and wild places in Routt County. Our mission is to promote policies and practices for the benefit of conserving the Yampa Valley for future generations of outdoor enthusiasts by balancing the opportunities for recreational development with the habitat needs of wildlife.

To find out more about Keep Routt Wild, go to our website, or follow our nearly daily postings on Facebook. There we play dual roles, as a celebrant of local wildlife and as a conservation watchdog. See who’s on our Board of Directors here.

Keeping our bears wild and alive, and our residents safe

Local bears are awakening from hibernation! We’d like to take this opportunity to remind you to keep food sources secure. This means securing trash and eliminating access to other food sources including bird feeders, BBQ grills, and outdoor pet bowls. Bears have a keen sense of smell and are ravenous when they awake. They should be scouring the forest for food, not the streets of Steamboat or homes in the countryside. Many bears will be euthanized if they become habituated to humans and human food sources, as was the fate of the cinnamon bear pictured below. Sad as that is, it is often a necessary to put down a bear rather than risk the life of a resident, or even a child, that comes between it and its food source. We are privileged to have these wonderful critters as neighbors. Let’s keep our bears wild and alive, and our residents safe.

Sadly, this bear needed to be euthanized after becoming habituated to human food sources. Image courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife – Steamboat Springs.

Area and trail closures

While spring is officially here, many areas and trails remain under winter seasonal closures. This is typically due to areas being indicated as elk winter range. During this season, an elk’s metabolism drops, its food intake is limited, and it survives from its fat stores topped off in the summer. Minimizing disturbance also minimizes calories consumed by the elk, increasing its chances for survival and delivering a healthy calf later in the spring. We ask you to comply with these closures, whether they are mandatory or voluntary closures. Here is a list of winter closures from the US Forest Service:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mbr/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD859782

Here is a similar announcement from the Bureau of Land Management for Emerald Mountain:

https://www.blm.gov/press-release/seasonal-closures-now-effect-emerald-mountain

It should be noted that the BLM closures on Emerald Mountain continue through June 30. This is because this area is also an elk calving area. The US Forest Service will have similar closures starting May 15. We will alert you to these as the time approaches.

New District Ranger for Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District 

The USFS has announced that Michael Woodbridge is the new district ranger for the Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District. You can read about Mr. Woodbridge here.  We welcome him to the area and look forward to working with him in the near future. We have an exceptional opportunity to make Routt County the leader in balancing recreation and conservation within the rocky mountain west, but we can only do this in cooperation with the local land agencies. If you wish to welcome him to the area, you can do so at michael.woodbridge@usda.gov 

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up.”

-Terence McKenna

If you would like to support Keep Routt Wild and its efforts to save Routt County’s wildlife and wild spaces, please donate at the link below.

For more information please visit our website, Facebook page and Instagram feed. Our Facebook page has nearly daily updates on news related to wildlife and conservation.