Aspen Councilor Criticizes CPW Over Sweetwater Elk Habitat Plan

Glenwood Springs —The Roaring Fork Valley’s true asset isn’t the scenery. It’s the people.

Katie Garcia, writing from Aspen, argues that locals define themselves by how they show up for one another. Neighbors help when things get scary. Residents know their baristas by name. New bike paths keep kids and commuters safe.

Garcia wants folks to celebrate that bond. She invites neighbors to a "Cheers to Community" event Thursday, Sept. 24, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at MOLLIE Aspen. The gathering features the Buddy Program and AspenOUT. Those groups support the valley’s LGBTQ+ population and mentor youth.

Make no mistake: this is a pitch for connection. But the valley’s connections aren’t just social. They’re ecological. And right now, the state is testing whether it treats them the same.

Larry Mabry sees a contradiction in how the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Department handles elk habitat. CPW Director Laura Clellan recently argued for protecting the Yellow Creek elk herd on the Roan Plateau. She cited degraded habitat, fragmentation, and recreation pressure as threats.

Clellan wants the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to protect those Roan parcels. The habitat there is intact. Fragmentation is minimal. Recreation pressure is low.

Mabry asks why CPW won’t apply that same standard to Sweetwater Lake.

CPW’s own Area 8 wildlife staff flagged the issue. They warned that Sweetwater’s north side is critical elk winter habitat. It’s also where elk calve and deer fawn. Year-round development there would drive elk away. It would shrink already limited winter ranges.

Staff recommended moving facilities south of County Road 150. They suggested eliminating north-side trails. If development stayed put, they wanted a Dec. 1-June 15 closure.

CPW’s 2024 Sweetwater Resource Stewardship Plan listed that habitat protection as a high priority.

The proposed state park plan ignores that. It places a year-round administrative area, campground, equestrian complex, and new road directly in that north-side habitat. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) offers a narrower Keep Ditch Trail closure from Dec. 1 to April 15.

Read that again. CPW tells the BLM that fragmentation and recreation threaten elk on the Roan Plateau. Then CPW initiates those same pressures in Sweetwater’s mapped winter and calving habitat.

Mabry says protecting elk shouldn’t depend on who holds the development permit. Clellan should require Sweetwater to meet the standard she’s asking the BLM to enforce. Relocate the facilities and trails. Or impose the full Dec. 1-June 15 protection.

If CPW can’t hold itself to the same rules it demands of federal land managers, the "protection" is just paperwork.