Mountain bikers work with ranchers

Mountain bikers are trying to show they can coexist with cows on The Crown. The Mid Valley Trails Committee teamed with the Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association and the Bureau of Land Management last week to install two cattle guards that replace gates on grazing allotments on The Crown, the hump of land between the Roaring Fork River and Mount Sopris in the midvalley. The Crown is ground zero in the collision of New West and Old West. It’s evolved into a hotspot for mountain bikers but there are also several, decades-old federal grazing allotments for area ranchers. Ranchers complain that as recreation use soars, it’s becoming harder for them to use historic grazing lands. Gates get left open, and cattle wander onto other allotments or to private property. Members of the Mid Valley Trails Committee wanted to show ranchers they are sympathetic to their concerns and can ease some of them, said Temple Glassier, consultant to the committee. The committee purchased six cattle guards for $585 each for a total of $3,510, she said...more

Look at the cattle guard and tell me what you think.