Sheep Creek fuels treatment plan will proceed

The Canyon Lakes Ranger District can proceed with plans for clearcutting, thinning and burning in the Sheep Creek area, following a decision by the forest supervisor to uphold the majority of a fuels treatment plan.

The Sheep Creek 2 project is bounded primarily by County Road 80C on the north and west, Crystal Lakes subdivision on the south and the Upper Unit of the Cherokee Park State Wildlife Area on the east. The Forest Service earlier this year released its plan to reduce fire danger in the area with a combination of projects on 4,834 acres.

In July, two conservation groups--Colorado Wild and the Poudre Canyon Group of the Sierra Club--appealed the district's plan. A review team at the regional forester's office in Denver recommended one change as a result--that more should be done to protect visual quality in treatment spots seen from roads and other use areas.

"We can still do clearcutting, but we have to be more careful along road corridors," said Dyce Gayton, environmental coordinator for Canyon Lakes District. The additional requirements will not slow down the project, he added.

"We do see the change as helpful, but it's pretty minor," said Rocky Smith of Colorado Wild. "The Forest Service should have considered alternatives to clearcutting in lodgepole pine. We wanted them to examine both clearcutting and thinning."

Despite their continued disagreement, the conservation groups will not file a lawsuit in federal district court, Smith said. "We don't want to stop the entire project," he said.