Deer Creek Open Space Management Plan
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OPEN SPACE BOARD ADOPTS MANAGEMENT PLAN
The Pitkin County Open Space and Trails Board voted unanimously April 5 to adopt a management plan for Deer Creek Open Space.. The plan for the property (see the link above) was open to public comment for a one-month period that ended March 7. Public feedback was considered in the final plan. Pitkin County Open Space and Trails acquired the 38-acre open space in Snowmass Canyon in July 2015. The property, located at 2553 Lower River Road, was closed to public access when it was purchased. An interim plan to guide its use was adopted a year later. The interim plan (available below) allowed public access to the Roaring Fork River from the Rio Grande Trail as it crosses the open space and accommodated an intergovernmental agreement with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). The agreement allowed a CPW wildlife officer to reside in an existing house on the parcel. |
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Since that time, Open Space and Trails has closely monitored wildlife in the lower reaches of Arbaney Gulch, located on the national forest adjacent to the open space. A motion-triggered camera placed in the gulch confirmed the property’s importance as a protective buffer to an area abounding in wildlife. The quantity and diversity of species documented over time verifies Deer Creek Open Space as a key contributor to wildlife protection and habitat conservation.
The management plan sets forth a vision for Deer Creek Open Space that embraces the property’s potential for agricultural use as well as habitat enhancement, acknowledges its role in the provision of housing, and recognizes its importance in the greater context of wildlife conservation.
The management plan sets forth a vision for Deer Creek Open Space that embraces the property’s potential for agricultural use as well as habitat enhancement, acknowledges its role in the provision of housing, and recognizes its importance in the greater context of wildlife conservation.
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For more information contact: Carly Klein, Senior Planner
carly.klein@pitkincounty.com or 970-920-5224
carly.klein@pitkincounty.com or 970-920-5224