Plans set stage for Soapstone, Red Mountain access

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

The public in a couple years will at last have the chance to trod upon parts of the nearly $21 million in open lands preserved by Larimer County and Fort Collins.

Together the 50-square-mile Red Mountain Open Space and Soapstone Prairie Natural Area properties sprawl across the county's northern border with Wyoming, rising 1,500 feet from the short-grass prairies to ponderosa pine ridgetops.

Soapstone and Red Mountain in turn are part of the larger Laramie Foothills Mountain to Plains Project. Combined with properties preserved by the Nature Conservancy, Legacy Land Trust, Colorado Division of Wildlife and private owners, a 300-square-mile swath is being protected.

The pending adoption of management plans for the two properties puts into place the process of improving the access roads and building the trails necessary for opening them to the public in 2009. The management plans aim to balance public use of the properties with preservation of animal, plant, geological and cultural attributes.

The lands provide habitat for fox, elk and pronghorn in addition to 130 bird species, including eagles, owls, falcons and hawks. Soapstone also is a refuge for the threatened Colorado butterfly plant and other imperiled plant species.

In the human realm, Soapstone contains the Lindenmeier Archaeological Site. A national historic landmark, it is one of the most extensive and well-preserved sites of the Folsom occupation 12,000 years ago. It is also rich with remains of other occupations dating from 10,000 to 200 years ago, as well as the homesteading era of the last century.

Two trailheads would be constructed on the 18,728-acre Soapstone property, serving as gateways to its 39 miles of trails. The 13,500-acre Red Mountain property directly to the west will offer one trailhead to access its 12 miles of paths. Picnic shelters and restrooms would be located at the trailheads.

Although separately built and managed, the trails will join each other, reflecting the cooperation that went into drafting the management plans. "We went through the same planning process," explained Larimer County Resource Planner Meegan Flenniken.

"We really tried to make it seamless," said Fort Collins Natural Areas Manager Daylan Figgs.

"You can experience the transition from shortgrass to ponderosa pine on one piece of property," he continued. "It really does tell the story of the Front Range. You can step back in time a little and see what it looked like before everyone got here."

As might be expected from the collaboration in developing both plans, the management recommendations are quite similar with a couple of notable exceptions. Flenniken said limited hunting would be permitted on the west side of Red Mountain property with nine deer or elk permits issued by lottery to hunters applying for licenses in that game management area. No hunting or backcountry camping would be allowed in Soapstone, although it might be later.

The plans also specify that trails would be available to hikers, bikers and horseback riders. In Soapstone, however, horses would be prohibited on six miles of the northern-most trails to limit introduction of weed seeds. Four miles of trails also would be limited to hikers only to avoid conflict with other users.

Dogs and rock-climbing would be prohibited in both plans. All visitors would be restricted to designated trails, which would follow existing paths to the extent possible. Horses, riders, bikers and hikers would be limited to groups of no more than 12 total "heartbeats."