As Trump admin slashes Forest Service jobs, Cameron Pass Nordic Rangers keep ski trails open
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CAMERON PASS, Colo. — On the side of Highway 14, Sean Chapin loaded his backpack with nails, trail signs and a grizzly-toothed hand saw. He ratcheted his ski boots tight and glided into the woods.
Ten minutes from the trailhead, Chapin spotted his target: a dead lodgepole pine the wind had blown over. The tree rested above the trail at a steep diagonal. A stand of nearby trees held the top in place.
“If we get a couple of big snows, people will have a hard time going under it. If it was really windy and these other trees were moving, there’s always a possibility the thing could come down when somebody is underneath,” said Chapin, as he hacked away at limbs and bark.
Chapin is one of nearly a hundred volunteer rangers who patrol the nordic ski and snowshoe trails on Cameron Pass, located 70 miles west of Fort Collins. The area boasts over 32 cross country ski trails and has become a popular spot among Front Range backcountry skiers and snowboarders. Chapin joined the volunteer group in 2014 after retiring from a career designing computer chips for HP and Intel.
Since its inception in 1992, volunteers with the Cameron Pass Nordic Ranger program have helped the Canyon Lakes Ranger District to fill major gaps. But even as recreation has soared, federal land management budgets have failed to keep pace. Making matters more complicated, the Trump administration has cut thousands of National Park and Forest Service positions — a move expected to further strain land managers.
Video: Cormac McCrimmon, Rocky Mountain PBS
The Associated Press reported last week that the Trump administration is rehiring a small number of Forest Service positions. A federal judge ruled last week that the Trump administration's firing of thousands of probationary employees is illegal.
In the winter, Chapin and fellow trail crew volunteers visit the pass almost weekly to put up signs, cut down trees, shovel bridges, refill trail maps and assist people on the trails. Last year, 76 Nordic Rangers logged over a 1,000 hours on patrol and another 300 performing trail work. They talked with nearly 600 trail users.
Karen Roth, 71, started the Cameron Pass Nordic Ranger program in 1992. At that time, she worked for the U.S. Forest Service and managed the area’s wilderness and trails program. Her ranger district had a small budget to hire seasonal workers in the summer, but never anyone in the winter.
“Most people don't realize how much recreation we get in the winter,” said Roth.
In response to an “explosion” of winter users, Roth rallied a group of volunteers to help her with winter trail maintenance and patrols.
“Back then, the parking lots used to get maybe a quarter full. Now, if you go on a weekend or a holiday, you want to get there pretty early because the parking lots will fill up, especially at the top,” said Roth, who continues to volunteer in her retirement.
More people also means more poop. Volunteers help the Forest Service to restock outhouses with toilet paper and shovel snow from the pit toilets, one of the many jobs Roth knows is “taken for granted.”
During a Feb. 25 patrol, Chapin worked his saw through a downed tree. Chainsaws are too heavy to carry on skis, so he uses a hand saw.
“It should drop straight down,” said Chapin. “But you never know.”
Sean Chapin saws a downed tree during a late-February patrol on Cameron Pass. Video: Cormac McCrimmon, Rocky Mountain PBS
The tree cracked then, as predicted, dropped straight down. Chapin made two additional cuts then pushed the sections away from the trail.
Chapin is a self-taught skier. He first visited the pass 35 years ago. Chapin said he enjoys the solitude and freedom of the trails. More than anything, he likes the camaraderie of working alongside other volunteers.
“Somebody who constructs a house, they look at it when it's done and they feel good about the accomplishment. That's what I feel like after I cut trees and clear the trails,” he said.
Chapin estimates that last year alone, more than 40 people showed up for training to become Nordic Rangers.
Before their first patrol, all volunteers must attend both a classroom and field training session. Volunteers are required to patrol four times each season. After every shift, they fill out a report that describes snow and trail conditions, the number of trail users they interacted with and how many cars were at the trailhead. The data provide valuable insights the Forest Service would struggle to collect on its own.
“In the 10 years I've been doing this, it seems like the budgets continually get squeezed down and cut,” said Chapin.
The Forest Service provides sew-on volunteer patches, some tools and a truck for the trail crew. Most volunteers are responsible for covering their own expenses getting to and from the pass.
“If you actually meet a Forest Service employee back on one of these ski trails, you should stop and buy a lottery ticket on the way home, because you're really lucky that day,” said Chapin.
Chapin said that one of the Forest Service employees who helped volunteers with trail maintenance was fired.
Rocky Mountain PBS reached out to the Forest Service for comment, but they declined to speak to the media.
Chapin worries that cuts within the forest service could threaten the partnership between volunteers and the Canyon Lakes Ranger District. Every week, Chapin refers to a website managed by the Forest Service to understand where trail problems or down trees are. Without those resources, his job could become harder.
“We would be blind to where the issues are on the trails,” he said.
Sean Chapin glides through a meadow on telemark skis. Video: Cormac McCrimmon, Rocky Mountain PBS
Last week, Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) delivered a speech to his colleagues decrying the Trump Administration’s termination of more than 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees, including at least 90 in Colorado.
“The Forest Service employees throughout the West are fundamental to our economy and to our communities in Colorado,” said Bennet.
“The fact that they've been hard to hire has compromised our communities in really fundamental ways, and we ought to double down on the Forest Service’s mission, investing in wildfire resilience, watershed health, recreation management, rooting out waste, and cutting red tape to make the agency a better partner for rural communities across the country.”
At her house in Fort Collins, Roth’s walls are plastered with memories of a life spent outdoors — photos of her kayaking the Grand Canyon, learning to ski with her sister and a bookshelf full of guide books and topographic maps. In every photo, the back-breaking work of volunteers and land managers lies just out of frame.
“People take things for granted that the trails will be there, and they'll always be wonderful. They don't realize how much work goes into just keeping those trails in good shape and all the lands in great shape.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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