FLOOD10327

• County: Eagle
• Community: Eagle
• Stream Name: Eagle River
• Title: Eagle River Watershed Plan
• Date: 1/1/1996
• Prepared For: Eagle Community and Eagle County
• Prepared By: National Park Service
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Mitigation/Flood Warning/Watershed Restoration

commercial and private fishing activity in the
watershed are not readily available but col-
lection and analysis of that information is a
recommended action.

7.3 RECREATION
OBJECTIVlES AND
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

7.3.1 OBJECTIVE: Determine
Recreational Carrying Capacity
to Protect Resources and
Quality of the Recreational
Experience

Recommended Actions

1. COOPERATIVELY INITIATE
CARRYING CAPACITY STUDY

Determining the recreational Carrying
Capacity is essential before any major
management decisions regarding recre-
ation are made. A cooperative effort
between the BLM, USFS, CDOW, Eagle
County,Towns, commercial boating and
fishing outfitters, private users and pri-
vate landowners should:

1. Study the current situation, moni-
toring use levels by all recreational
activities.

2. Determine what recreational prefer-
ences are, and establish what
impacts they may be having.

3. Establish the Carrying Capacity and
Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC)
appropriate within the watershed
for public lands (federal, state,
town, county) and the waterway.
Impacts on private lands should
also be studied. The carrying capac-
ity should address the physical,
ecological, and social capacities of

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the river and the existing recre-
ational facilities. It is recommended
that the agencies use LAC to deter-
mine the desirable conditions for
the Eagle Watershed, and not base
decisions on simply how much use
the watershed can tolerate. (See
References for USFS Manual for
Establishing Limits of Acceptable
Change and Glossary for further
definition of Carrying Capacity).

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4. Consider the economic impact of
enforcing these limits when making
a determination.

5. Create an interagency monitoring
group that includes local citizens
and recreation outfitters to accu-
rately gauge recreation growth and
recognize problems as they arise
(also see Chapter 3: Implementa-
tion). The heavily used recreation
section of the Arkansas River has
been designated a State Park and is
regulated through a cooperative
system between state and federal
agencies.

7.3.2 OBJECTIVE: Determine the
Condition of the Fishery

Recommended Action

I. COOPERATIVELY STUDY FISHERY
CONDITIONS

As stated above in "Carrying Capacity," a
detailed study of the exact condition of
the fishery and limits of acceptable
change must be done to assist manage-
ment in making sound decisions. This
study should occur prior to, or concur-
rently with, the above effort and exam-
ine the state of the fishery in terms of
the aquatic wildlife and the impacts of
increased fishing pressure, development
and may include creel census, user sur-
veys, fish counts, habitat inventories,