Staff on the San Juan National Forest are working in lockstep with counties and the National Guard to access hunters and forest visitors trapped behind road washouts, landslides and high-water crossings.
The number of road failures on the Pagosa and Columbine ranger districts are numerous and, in many cases, too substantial to rebuild and repair prior to winter. Crews are working to clear roads where they can evacuate visitors.
U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Pagosa District Ranger Josh Peck spoke at a community meeting held on Tuesday, Oct. 27, indicating that the recent storms and flooding has caused “significant, catastrophic damage” to the Forest Service’s infrastructure, including roads and trails.
Peck explained that the USFS is evaluating where failures have occurred and was about 98 percent through that process.
He also noted that the USFS is looking at places of “imminent failure” to see what can be done before the next storm, winter and the spring runoff season.
Peck noted that 13 national forest system roads are closed, and that “of those, we anticipate probably eight of those are going to be closed for a long duration.”
He noted that four of those roads have people trapped with no way to exit, and the USFS is working alongside the county and emergency response crews to rescue those folks.
“Your national forest is going to be very different for the long term,” Peck said.
He noted that trails have also suffered “pretty significant damage,” noting a bridge on the Piedra River Trail that is now gone.
“We don’t know where it is, he said.
Peck explained that the USFS is expecting to find more of that kind of damage.
He also explained that the USFS has a webpage up to show what areas are closed or impassable, and it plans to run the webpage through the end of the third-rifle hunting season.
That page can be viewed at https://bit.ly/4ssJVVz.
Helping forest visitors
If you know of a forest visitor trapped down an unpassable road who needs evacuation help in:
• Archuleta County, call 911 or the nonemergency dispatch line at (970) 731-2160 when they are ready to be evacuated.
• La Plata County, call 911 if an emergency, or nonemergency dispatch at (970) 385-2900.
Please report abandoned property information if you are forced to leave vehicles behind by emailing the San Juan National Forest at sm.fs.sanjuannf@usda.gov with the subject line of “Personal Property.” Please provide your name, phone number, license plates, description of property and a detailed location, in addition to any other pertinent information.
Support your community and avoid going onto saturated roads on the San Juan National Forest even if they are open. Just because they are passable now does not mean they will be when you turn around. First responders are put into high-risk situations to rescue trapped visitors, and this also takes resources from higher-need areas.
Visit the San Juan National Forest Conditions page, www.fs.usda.gov/r02/sanjuan/conditions, for the most up-to-date information on road conditions as well as maps of road closures. Please note, this list changes frequently as engineers and crews carefully assess conditions. Trails conditions will be assessed as staffing levels permit.
Individual trails and campgrounds will be updated on the San Juan National Forest Recreation website.
Critical safety reminders
• It is imperative that visitors do not try to ford water crossings on roads and trails, a practice that can easily prove deadly.
• If infrastructure such as bridges or culverts appears damaged and are not noted on the Conditions or Recreation webpages, please report it to the information line voicemail at (970) 501-5830 and do not attempt to cross.
• Do not try to drive around damaged areas — a practice that is illegal, destructive and dangerous.
• Please respect closure signage to reduce the need for rescue and to reduce additional damage when resources are extremely limited.
For information on the San Juan National Forest, call (970) 247-4874, visit the forest website or follow on Facebook.
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