Rep. Joe Neguse visits Kremmling, meets with local leaders about completing the Continental Divide Trail

On Aug. 23 Rep. Joe Neguse stopped at the Kremmling Field Office to discuss the prospects of completing the Continental Divide Trail with local leaders and wildlife managers. While he was there he toured the Muddy Pass area near Steamboat Springs. The pass is considered a priority gap – a portion of incomplete trail that is considered unsafe or not enjoyable because it diverts hikers to busy roadways.

Neguse sat down with representatives from the Continental Divide Trail Coalition, Town of Grand Lake, Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and Headwaters Trails Alliance to discuss what is needed to complete the Continental Divide Trail, including the Muddy Pass portion.

The Muddy Pass is the last remaining gap in Colorado. It is approximately 11 miles of trail where recreationists follow along two busy, narrow highways – 9 miles on Colorado Highway 14 where it meets with Jackson County Road 53 and 2 miles on U.S. Highway 40 near the Dumont Lake area. There are also 18 gap miles along unpaved county and forest roads, according to Jordan Williams, who is the Colorado regional representative for the Continental Divide Trail Coalition.

“Since there are not continuous and protected public lands available along this gap, recreationists are forced to use the highways…which creates unsafe conditions for visitors and drivers,” Williams stated in an email to Sky-Hi News. 

Neguse reintroduced the Continental Divide Completion Act this March. If passed the legislation would direct the Forest Service and the BLM to cooperate in completing the 3,100 mile national scenic trail. The bill is led by U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., and is co-led by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M.

“More than 40 years after its creation, the trail remains incomplete due to gaps in public lands along more than 160 miles of its route,” Neguse stated in a press release about the reintroduced bill. “In these areas, the CDT is forced to follow along roads and highways to connect one piece of the trail to another.”

Created in 1978, there are still 160 gap miles on the trail, which spans from Mexico to Canada. The bill would direct the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Interior to prioritize the completion of the trail in time for its 50th anniversary in 2028. This would be done through acquiring land to eliminate the gaps and relocate existing portions of the trail to increase conservation, according to the bill.

Land managers have also identified approximately 600 miles of trail that are located on public lands but need to be relocated off of motorized trail routes or undesirable locations. If the CDT Completion Act passes, a Comprehensive Development Plan would need to be submitted to Congress within two years. The plan would need to identify the gap areas and include a plan for how to close the gaps. The bill also states that no land can be acquired through eminent domain.

Neguse discussed possible reroutes for Muddy Pass and the challenges presented with each option available, including wildlife concerns regarding migration patterns and the plethora of private and public landowners along the proposed reroutes.

Grand Lake’s Mayor Steve Kudron spoke about the great economic driver the trail is for the town and the county. He added that the amount of day and thru-hikers the town has seen over the past few years has grown exponentially, which has led to some deterioration on trails.

Headwaters Trail Alliance Field Projects Manager Sean Burke spoke to Neguse about how time consuming and hard trail work can be, and how it can be a major roadblock in the completion of the trail. He brought up a recent example of heavy blowdown that happened on a trail in Grand County about two years ago.

“It took us 14 days, 93 different volunteers and 800 trees in the wild to cut by hand,” Burke said.

Neguse recognized the hard, time consuming work that the trail stewards do to maintain trail systems, and the valuable insight they can provide elected officials on how to best close the gaps on the Continental Divide Trail.

“We’re gonna pick your brains a little bit on some of the other issues that you all are grappling with,” Neguse said at the meeting. “With respect to the Continental Divide and the trail, of course, we’re grateful to the coalition partners and the folks who’ve been beating the drum for literally four years making the case for that this is a trail we want completed.”

He told attendees at the meeting that Congress should take the steps necessary to provide federal resources to close the gaps on the trail, and he is cautiously optimistic that they can make it happen.