Balancing forest uses goal of new district ranger

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

Kevin Atchley is taking on the demanding task of balancing the demands of those relying on the forest for their rest, recreation or livelihoods.

But he embraces those challenges as the new district ranger for the Canyon Lakes Ranger District. Atchley is convinced that respect and diplomacy can resolve the conflicts inherent in accommodating such multiple uses in keeping with the Forest Service's mandate.

Atchley in a sense is the public face of the district, working closely with local elected officials, legislative staffs and the public.

The 650,000-acre Canyon Lakes District is the largest of the five ranger districts within the 1.5-million-acre Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland. From the borders of Rocky Mountain National Park, the district extends east to the foothills looming above the northern Front Range. Bisected by the Poudre River, it sprawls north to the state line bounded by U.S. 287 to the east and State Highway 125 to the west.

Appointed to fill the vacancy resulting from the retirement of Ellen Hodges, Atchley said folks shouldn't expect to see many if any immediate changes in forest management.

"I'm stepping in the middle of a stream that's already in process," he said. "I don't want to fix what's not broken."

The increasing demand for more recreational offerings is among the greatest challenges. While there are plenty of places for quiet contemplation, "a lot of people want to do things when they go out there," Atchley said.

"This district has a very large recreation program," he noted, including two dozen campgrounds in addition to rafting and outfitting opportunities.

Dowdy, one of the most popular of those campgrounds, was upgraded last year, but Atchley said no other major improvements are forthcoming.

One issue that might arise is continued spraying of lodgepole pine surrounding targeted campgrounds to prevent the spread of the mountain pine beetle. Atchley said this was the third year of spraying and could be the last.

"It may come down to an issue of not having enough resources," he said.

But beyond the bucks, Atchley said, it may be time to accept the inevitability that many lodgepole are dying and the forest is changing.

"I know people are worried about the forest dying," he acknowledged.

But beneath the brown and gray canopy, Atchley said he sees a lot of new undergrowth that will become the foundation for a healthy new forest.

"I think our future forest will be amazing," he said.

Some of the lodgepoles will survive and the dead ones will be replaced by aspen, according to Atchley.

He compares it to the traumatic 2002 fire at Trappers Lake. It consumed 17,000 acres in a dramatic setting known as the "cradle of wilderness." Atchley said the recovering forest has "an odd beauty" and is very much alive today. "I don't think of it as dead," he said.

Atchley, 54, already had a Fort Collins connection before being accepted for his dream job. He met his wife-to-be Lynn after moving to Fort Collins in 1982. They married the following year and embarked on a diverse journey that would bring them full circle.

"I really did want to come here," he said. "I'm happy to be doing this."

Lynn Atchley is a nurse at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley. The couple have two grown children.

Most recently, Atchley served as district ranger for the Wall Ranger District in South Dakota since 2006. Before that, he worked in rangeland management and botany on the White River National Forest in Meeker, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests in Nevada and the Payette National Forest in Idaho.

Retiring after nearly 16 years as district ranger, Hodges was the first one to serve in the Canyon Lakes District after it was formed through the merger of Estes-Poudre and Redfeather districts.

Hodges reports that she and her husband have been living the good life traveling, biking, hiking and working on their house since her January retirement.

"It's been a blast. I highly recommend it," she said, noting that they plan to remain in the Fort Collins area.

Hodges said her greatest challenge was "keeping all multiple uses going," especially with the changing nature of recreation. "There's a lot of demand on the Forest Service," she said. "It's just a very busy place."