Category Archives: FOMP

Mt. Herman Rd is Now Open!

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Good news! Mt. Herman Rd is Now Open!

Mt. Herman Road and some of the surrounding areas are now re-opened! Please see the zoomed in map below fo rthe Northern area of the closure and then visit www.fomp.org for the full map. We will also post an updated list of know open/closed as soon as we have a chance.Please note that fines for crossing into the closed area begin at $125 and go up from there.Enjoy!
full map – waldo canyon fire order 12-15 (full size requires Adobe PDF reader)
Mt Herman Rd Re-open Map Click to Zoom

Mt Herman Rd Re-open Map Click to Zoom

 

Continued Closures

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A quick announcement – the 12-10 order (see previous posts or email) closing much of the area forest is still in effect. Please respect the clsure and stop by and say hello to the out of town rangers assigned to keep Mt. herman Rd. closed.

We know that the closure will continue through at least Monday – beyond that we have no information but as soon as we know so will you!

Thanks!

Monthly Trail Work, Fires, Openings, Closings

Monthly Trail Work, Fires, Openings, Closings

It has been a chaotic couple of weeks in the area and we have up to date information on what is open, what is closed, maps, orders, and volunteer opportunities!1. Open or Closed?

At the top of everyone’s mind … what is open and what is closed?

The good news, the Preserve is OPEN! Despite some signage to the contrary it is open. We’ve worked witht the USFS to correct the signage and post maps. You do need to steer clear of Mt. Herman Rd – the machinery working on the road can throw rocks and debris 200+ feet – so stay away from the road. USFS 715 “Stoopid Trail” is closed where it turns SW in the SQ corner of the preserve. We have placed a sign there – that leads you into the closure – stay out or risk a ticket.

The bad news, Mt. Herman Rd and everthing West of Red Rocks Rd to Palmer Lake and then West on 322 to Rampart Range Rd is CLOSED. There was a new order in place as of Friday closing this section.

Why: So that the Forest Service can finish cleaning up the fire line on Mt. Herman Road – they are using masticulating machines and feller bunchers and they are also removing all the logs from the Mt. Herman Rd fire line. This will continue for several more days at the very least, maybe a couple of weeks. We hope that it will re-open after that but we have no firm date or commitment from the USFS yet. If we get one we will let you know.

Please have a look at this zoomed in map of our area from the latest USFS closure order.

 

Full map and closure order (Adobe PDF Reder required), these are somewhat large, be patient:

Waldo Canyon Fire Area Closure Order 12-08

Waldo North Closure REVISED map

A list of other regional openings and closings is at the end of this email/post.

2. Fire

We still have high fire danger so be aware. The recent rains have not changed the fire danger.

3. Shooting Range Update

After FOMP volunteers cleaned up over 60 (yes 60!) bags of trash and debris from illegal shooting on Mt. Herman Rd the FS then cleaned up just as much 2 days later and closed parking and roped off these areas. There was approximately 2 acres total sutdown to shooting in areas that are not safe to shoot in the first place. Social ranges that were on the top of ridgelines with not backstop were closed down. Much, muc more remains to be done to make Mt. Herman Rd a safe place for other recreational users as some of the remaining social ranges have been utterly destroyed and shooters are shooting uphill with stray and ricochet bullets landing in Limbaugh Canyon still as well as on the Mt. Herman hiking trail. We continue to work with the USFS to try and make the Mt. Herman corrider a safe place again. The illegal shooting is just that – illegal and unsafe. It is in areas where shooting is allowed unfortunately many (and it appears a majority) of the recreational shooters on Mt. Herman Rd choose not to follow the rules of the USFS and are destroying trees and other resources as well as creating very dangerous situations for themselves and others. FOMP’s BOD continues to work with the USFS for good solutions for all parties including recreational shooters.

4. Monthly Trail Work Session Information

Tuesday July 10 at 6:00 PM

FOMP is pleased to be holding a volunteer trail work and tree trimming work session!

FOMP and USFS provide all necessary tools. Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing for performing outdoor landscaping type of work. Volunteers should bring leather gloves, a personal water supply, eye protection, sunscreen, and bug repellent. We meet rain or shine unless there is lightning active in the area. In the event that you are joining us late we try to leave a note at the trail head parking lot or you can call Jon Nordby (719.640.1347) or Chris Tirpak (719.439.8865) to find out where in the Preserve we are working that evening.
We make every effort to accommodate volunteer preferences and abilities at each event. Generally we perform activities such as water bar building or renovation, trail renovation, maintenance, and trimming, etc. So, pretty much everything from trimming back scrub oak or digging lots of dirt to moving boulders. We assign duties based on interest and capabilities. Kids are welcome to join their parents; however, we do ask that you evaluate whether this is an appropriate activity for your child or not.
Meet at the main trailhead parking lot at 6:00PM! (map: http://bit.ly/FOMPMeetingSpot)
Thanks and we hope to see you out there!

FOMP==== List of Known Open / Closed Regional Trails ====

Thanks to David Wagner for putting this list together – we will try and update it as he provides updates and eventually make it a seperate post on www.fomp.org

Open:

Colorado Spring Parks and Open Spaces
Douglas County Parks and Open Spaces
Barr Trail
Pikes Peak Highways Trails
State Parks
El Paso County Parks
Castle Rock Parks
updated: Old Stage Road and Gold Camp Road are now open

Falcon Trail (Air Force Academy) with military ID update: The Falcon Trail (Air Force Academy) is only under FPCON ALPHA, so only drivers license is required — update #2: Falcon Trail may be only partially open unless you have a military ID – please verify before you go!

Trail Closures due to the Waldo Canyon Fire:

Order 12-10 and Municipality Rulings
High Arson and Fire Risk & Limited Resources Available
48,000 acres (75 square miles) of forest service land in the closure area
14,270 acres of forest service land burned (30% of closure area)
NOTE: USFS system trails listed below have there number after them
Some private and social trails are listed
USAFA : Eagle Peak, Stanley Canyon 707, West Monument Creek 713
Blodgett Peak Open Space & Blodgett Peak
Oak Valley trails off Coldwater Dr, Colo Spgs (?)
Palmer Lakes via Balanced Rock Rd 322 from Old Carriage Rd (per PL Water Dept.)
Monument Preserve, partial closure, Monument 715, I-A Fitness 718
Mt. Herman 716
Farish (4 trails)
Various Forest Service Roads (including portion of Rampart Range Rd 300)
Williams Canyon (Williams Canyon Project)
Waldo Canyon 640
Pyramid Mountain Estates (Cascade)
Green Mountain Falls trail system (per Lorrie Worthey, mayor)
Kings Crown Road area trails (Woodland Park)
Rainbow Gulch Rd, Nichols 709, Reservoir 700
Ormes Peak

Shooting Range Cleanup and Reclamation work session!

Update: Cafevelo Bikes is so excited to hear about the progress FOMP has made getting the shooting areas on Mt. Herman cleaned up that they would like to buy a coffee for any volunteer who shows up and helps tomorrow!  FOMP will be collecting names and giving it to the owner on Wed. If you can not make it please be sure to show your support and drop by Cafevelo Bikes and show them some love in return for encouraging everyone to get out and participate and ride!

http://www.cafevelobikes.com/

FOMP urgently needs you for this special work session!

Tuesday June 12 at 5:00PM or 6:00 PM – Trail work to clean up and reclaim shooting ranges in conjunction with USFS.

FOMP is pleased to be holding a volunteer work session with USFS!

informal shooting ranges that have resulted in massive resource destruction, trash, and very dangerous conditions on Mt. Herman Road will be cleaned up and closed down.
Two groups will go up Mt. Herman Road to the shooting sites to perform clean up in advance of USFS work later this week. Meet at the main trailhead and form carpool groups to go up to the cleanup sites. If you miss a group at 5PM or 6PM then please proceed up the road to catch up with the group.Meet at the main trailhead parking lot at 5:00PM or 6:00PM! (map: http://bit.ly/FOMPMeetingSpot)

Please bring heavy duty black trash baghs if you have them, work gloves, bug spray and a personal water supply.

Primary work location will be up Mt. Herman Rd. about 4.5 miles, at the upper Limbaugh entrance. About 1 mile past where 715 crosses Mt Herman Road. Look for the vehicles, hard to miss.
Thanks and we hope to see you out there soon!

FOMP

Tree Planting: Volunteer Opportunity

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We have a weekend volunteer opportunity for you.

The weather has finally cooperated and provided some much needed moisture so FOMP will be holding a tree planting session! We will be planting 100’s of seedlings and helping them get a head start in the Preserve! These seedlings are hand selected and raised at the same altitude as the Preserve so they should have an excellent chance at surviving and enhanving the Preserve experience.

Saturday April 12, 2012 10:00 AM

– 10am at the Main Parking Lot, Nursery and Mount Herman Road.
– The planting will most likely be complete by 1pm
– This seedling planting will be in Honor of Mel Rezac a long time area resident and member of FOMP. We’ll be planting just West of his house.
– Wear long sleeves, jeans, gloves, sunscreen, and eye protection, bring a personal suply of drinking water.
– Learn from FOMP’s AFA Forester how to select a site for planting and ensure a seedlings success!

Thanks,

FOMP

Willow Springs Ranch Announcement

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FOMP has just learned about a potential new open space project in Monument called Willow Springs Ranch. As some of you may recall Willow Springs Ranch was slated to become houses. That may chnage and your input is needed! We received the following information from one of our members.

To: Members and Friends of the Trails and Open Space Coalition

Please join us at an informational meeting about Willow Springs Ranch – Thursday, March 15th, 6:30 p.m. at Monument Town Hall.

The property was purchased with plans to create a housing development, but the developer no longer has the financial ability to go forward. There is an opportunity to turn a portion of the 260 acre ranch into open space. The meeting is intended to answer questions and gauge support for this project. The TOPS Working Committee and El Paso County Parks have expressed interest in this acquisition.

The willow springs ranch meeting is a letter that is going out to all neighbors.

FOMP strongly encourages you to attend if possible and make your voice heard.

Letter sent to the community (requires pdf)

County Commissioners to examine Shooting and BOD Meeting Reminder

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County Commissioners to examine Shooting

As many of you are aware there has been an incredible increase in shooting activity on Mt. Herman road since the closure of the Rampart Range Rd. shooting range. Not only is this shooting noisy but it is destructive to the areas where shooters congregate, has increased trash in the surrounding forest areas, and perhaps most importantly is conducted in an unsafe manner off of ridges, across and down trails off of Mt. Herman Rd including the trail to the top of Mt. Herman and the Limbaugh Canyon Trail. FOMP has repeatedly brought this to the attention of local USFS management and USFS Law Enforcement and continues to try and get the issue resolved. The issue has now also come to the attention of the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners:

Colorado Springs, November 3, 2011 – On Tuesday, November 8th the El Paso Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) will hold a work session to discuss options to establish a public shooting range in El Paso County.  Since the closure of the Rampart Shooting Range in 2009 the Commissioners have been approached multiple times to look into the creation of a public range.

This work session is scheduled at 2 p.m. following the regular BoCC meeting.  The meeting will be held in the Hearing Room of the County Office Building located at 27 E. Vermijo and is open to the public.
All BoCC meetings can be viewed live online at www.elpasoco.com and the following evening at 9:00 p.m. on Comcast Cable Channel 17, The Library Channel.
FOMP BOD members Jon Norby and Joe Ennis avid users of the area trails and experienced marksmen/hunters were interviewed for a video that will be shown by BoCC staff to the commissioners. USFS law enforcement was also interviewed for the video.

The FOMP BOD strongly encourages you to participate in this meeting and make your voice heard.

BOD Meeting Reminder
Wednesday November 9, 2011 7:00PM

FOMP will hold a Board of Directors Meeting on Wednesday November 9, 2011 at 7:00PM. This is a change from our normal Tuesday timeslot because of Elections on Tuesday November 8. This is also the first BOD meeting in the classroon since the wind down of summer activites and on the trail BOD meetings so please join us!

BOD Meetings are held in the Fire Center Classroom. For those of you unfamiliar with the classroom building make your first left into the Fire Center after Mt. Herman Rd. turns to dirt, follow the road all the way into the administrative area and the classroom building is the first building on your right.

Agenda:

  1. Finances
  2. Summer season review
  3. 2012 Planning
  4. BoCC shooting meeting review
  5. other items

Thanks and we hope to see you there!
FOMP

 

Active Fire Alert!

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Active Fire Alert!

There is an actively burning fire just South of Mt. Herman and North of USAFA on the east face of the foothills.

The Monument Helitac crew and as well as other local resources are being dispatched along with other crews are and will be cutting lines and working on perimeter control. The fire is burning in Ponderosa Pine and brush. They will be managing for surpression and containment.

Location: Lat/Long 39.0492/104.9142 S31 T115 R67W
(Google map: http://bit.ly/ritB4V)

The USFS district is actively putting this information out on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/PSICC_NF

—

Update: The fire now has a name:

#Beaver Creek Fire-Located just off of Mt. Herman Road North of the AFA. Additional resources ordered-Type 1 Helicopter and Air Supervision

Update:
Monument Helitac just dropped a crew in … but they look tiny up against the plumes of smoke and the acreage.

Updated Fire Restrictions

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As you may have heard by now the  Pike & San Isabel National Forests, Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands have upgraded their fire restrictions going into the holiday weekend. The full text of the ban is below.

Have a great 4th of July weekend!

Thanks
FOMP

From the Pike NF Home Page
http://bit.ly/mOqvtF

 

Stage 2 Fire Restictions

Release Date: Jun 30, 2011

Contact(s): Barbara Timock

PUEBLO, Colo., June 29, 2011– As of today, Wednesday June 29, a Stage 2 fire restriction Order has been implemented by the Pike & San Isabel National Forests, Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands (PSICC) in response to the severe wildfire threat in southern Colorado.

The public is prohibited from building, maintaining, attending or using a fire, campfire, charcoal broiler, or a coal or wood-burning stove, among other fire use activities.

The decision to move to these tighter restrictions is due to the high potential for human-caused fires, extremely dry conditions, and numerous fire starts in the area.

“Reducing the threat for new wildfires is one of the biggest priorities we have right now,” said Ralph Bellah, Fire Prevention Officer for the Pike & San Isabel National Forests, Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands.
Affected areas include:  Pike National Forest, San Isabel National Forest, Comanche National Grassland, Jefferson, Douglas, Park, El Paso, Teller, Chaffee, Fremont, Huerfano, Saguache, Custer, Las Animas, Baca, Otero and Pueblo Counties in Colorado.
National Forest Service lands in Lake County are exempt from this Order.
Woodcutters should be especially careful in these dry conditions.  Make sure your chainsaw is equipped with an approved spark arrestor; be sure to have an 8 ounce fire extinguisher and a shovel when you are woodcutting.
The following acts are prohibited:

  • Building, maintaining, attending or using a fire, campfire, charcoal broiler, or a coal or wood-burning stove.
  • Exception:  Petroleum fueled stoves, lanterns, or heating devices providing such devices meet the fire underwriter’s specifications for safety are permitted.
  • Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or while stopped in an area at least three (3) feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable material, or in areas posted by authorized Forest Officers.
  • Welding, or operating acetylene or other torch with open flame.
  • Using explosives requiring fuse blasting caps.
  • Operating a chainsaw or other equipment powered by an internal combustion engine for felling, bucking, skidding, road building and woodcutting during industrial operations or fire wood gathering is prohibited from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Violation of these prohibitions is punishable as a Class B misdemeanor, by a fine of not more than $5,000 for an individual or $10,000 for a legal entity other than an individual, or imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both. Title 16 USC, Section 551.

 

Cancelled: Bonus Trail Work Night

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CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER!
We will probably try and re-schedule this next Tuesday – stay tuned.

FOMP would like to let you know that we will be hosting an unscheduled Trail Work session Tuesday night May 24!

Tuesday May 24 at 6:00 PM – Trail work!

Sometimes we get the bug to really get rolling and that is the case this year. So, tomorrow evening we will be holding an unscheduled Trail Work session.

Since it is unscheduled we will also change our meeting place. We will be working on the upper portion of the trail that descends from Mt. Herman Rd. to Monument Rock / the pond. Please park at or near Mt. Herman Rd. and Red Rocks Dr (map:  http://bit.ly/mvaP43) and walk up to the trail entrance off of Mt. herman Rd.  then down onto the trail and join us. Please grab tools from the green Toyota Tundra that will be parked at the top of the trail and come on down and meet us – since this is an impromptu session we won’t be waiting around for the group. We will be just down the trail about 20 yards to the North from the road.

FOMP and USFS provide all necessary tools. Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing for performing outdoor landscaping type of work. Volunteers should bring leather gloves, a personal water supply, eye protection, sunscreen, and bug repellent. We meet rain or shine unless there is lightning active in the area. In the event that you are joining us late we always leave a note at the trail head parking lot or you can call Chris Tirpak (719.439.8865) if you have questions.

Thanks and we hope to see you out there soon!
FOMP