Every five years, the U.S. Forest Service reviews user levels and activity types on the trails, facilities, and lands it manages. The process is part of the agency's National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) Survey.
This year, the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forest are undergoing their NVUM update. From October of last year through September, forest-hired surveyors have been tallying traffic and talking with visitors to gather data.
On a recent sunny summer day, we caught up with one of these surveyors, Tara Malmstrum, at the intersection of the Jud Wiebe Trail and Tomboy Road to learn what she’s discovered from a summer of conversations with forest users.
"I'm a teacher over in Ridgeway, so it's summer work for me. Of course, I want to do anything I can to help the natural environment — the forest in particular. The Forest Service have me going up to Blue Lakes a lot, and that's a very high priority for them. Part of that will help inform when they do the permitting, which I think they're planning on doing in 2026," said Malmstrum.
Blue Lakes is a trail south of Ridgway, below Sneffels Peak. Due to an increase in traffic in recent years, the USFS is considering requiring day-use permits in the area.
"This is a pretty busy trail, Ice Lakes and other places…So I think they want to look at where they're putting their resources and how they manage those trails. A lot of locals I think use the Jud Weibe, but I had a young man from Canada, a lot of people from Texas and Arizona getting out of the heat. A lot of people with second homes here who are traveling, hiking, walking up the trail," she said
This is Malmstrum's second time in two months monitoring this trail.
"The first time the Imogene Pass was closed. So it was pretty quiet. Now it's really busy. I mean, I've counted 205 people leaving the trail or the road since 8 o'clock, and I go until 2. There have been 35 vehicles," she said.
Malmstrum says this is one of the busier trails that she has seen.
"Blue Lakes, hands down is busier. I was there the Saturday after 4th of July and I counted over 300 people and that was in a six-hour period. So you double that for the day. That's a lot of people on that trail."
Malmstrum has also been working with the San Juan Mountain Association to do trail ambassador work.
"They have a permanent tent set up over at Blue Lakes. So that's another little arm that's helping the Forest Service, you know. And of course just the locals [do their part to educate visitors, saying:] ‘Hey, put your dog on a leash, or pick up your poop bag’ or whatever it is," she said.
"I love this and I love the forest and I hope you know it helps in some small way!"
Monitoring efforts within the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forest will wrap up at the end of September. In a statement, the Forest Service says the survey will help its managers ‘estimate the number of people who engage in recreation on forest land and give a picture of the specific activities they partake in.’
Copyright 2024 KOTO.
This story was shared with KSUT via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, including KSUT. The story is part of the “Loved to Death” series, which examines the impact of increasing numbers of visitors to the region and how communities are navigating the challenge of balancing economic benefits with the environmental toll.
