Plans for Updates to Pole Mountain Area Released
The draft decision notice recently released for the Pole Mountain Travel Management Project calls for significant changes to the Pole Mountain area, including road decommissioning, trail management, road maintenance, improvement and construction and watershed improvements, according to a Forest Service news release.
The draft decision notice, announced Wednesday, April 19th, will add nine parking areas including three major parking areas along Highway 210 and new connectors between roads to create an additional driving loop. The decision will also close some roads to public use and decommission certain roads altogether, due to access and resource concerns.
The ultimate goal of the project decision, according to the release, is to create a sustainable motorized transportation system or road system that will provide many recreation opportunities while addressing user conflicts and environmental impacts.
“I firmly believe that this draft decision will provide a road system on Pole Mountain that is sustainable in the long term and will meet the needs of Forest users, for both current and future generations,” said Laramie District Ranger Frank Romero in a statement.
The area analyzed for the project sits north of Interstate 80 between Laramie and Cheyenne in the Laramie Range. It includes the road system that provides motorized access to about 55,000 acres on the Medicine Bow National Forest and includes popular areas like Tie City, Happy Jack, Blair Wallis, Vedauwoo, and Eagle Rock.
The Laramie District says in the release that In the Laramie area, Pole Mountain is among of the closest and most accessible National Forest System lands. Pole Mountain sees heavy year-round usage from visitors who want to explore public lands. The main uses of the land include mountain biking, livestock grazing, hiking, off-highway vehicle travel, horseback riding, communication sites, climbing, camping, military training, hunting and fishing.
The decision notice draft will be submitted for a 45 day comment period.