By Patti Brady
San Juan Mountains Association
Many of us travel on roads within the San Juan National Forest and BLM Tres Rios areas to get to the beautiful places we love. In fact, our local San Juan Public Lands cover over 5,000 miles of paved, gravel, dirt or two track roads. The varied Colorado weather of snow, wind, and occasional rain can make maintenance challenging on those roads and trails. In 2000 the San Juan National Forest, BLM Tres Rios Office and San Juan Mountains Association launched the “Adopt A Road” program and requested the help of individuals, groups and agencies assist with these important issues.
The Adopt a Road program attempts to keep Forest Service and BLM roads passable for recreationists. In order to do this, volunteers are needed for continuous surveying for problem areas, grading with heavy equipment, removal of downed trees, fixing road drainage problems, and replacing plugged or damaged culverts. Other issues include dealing with trash, cleaning up vandalized signs and gates, taking out trashy campfire rings, and rehabilitating lands with resource damage.
Many Forest Service signs in our area are very old and are also in need of some TLC. Therefore, another part of this program is the restoring and painting of Forest Service signs around Pagosa Springs (Pagosa Ranger District) and Durango (Columbine Ranger District). Volunteers for this program include Sharon Glassmaker, Vicki and Rick Boggs and Patti Brady. Many signs have been kept up by this team all along the Piedra forest road north, HWY 160 corridor and Hwy 84 south of Pagosa. Sharon and Patti have also worked along the northern corridor of the Columbine District including those around Vallecito and Lemon Reservoir, as well as boundary signs.
The Pagosa Trail Riders OHV club is one of the great Adopt a Road partners. In 2013 they built a steel fence cross-over to allow OHVs to ride the Brockover Trail without opening a gate (see photo). This group has adopted many FS roads and trails to clean and work on for the San Juan National Forest.
With the continual decline of federal budgets, the Forest Service and BLM are becoming more reliant on volunteers to assist in any way they can, especially in service programs such as Adopt a Road. Thanks to all of the volunteers of this valuable program!
If you are interested in learning more about the Adopt a Road program, or to volunteer, please contact Patti Brady at pbrady@fs.fed.us.
Patti Brady is Adopt A Road coordinator for the San Juan Mountains Association.
(photo caption) Restored boundary sign near Wolf Creek Pass (pictured: Rick Boggs, Sharon Glassmaker & Vicki Boggs, 2013). Picture by Patti Brady.
(photo caption) Steel fence crossover built by Pagosa Trail Riders, 2013. By Patti Brady.