River Protection Information Sheet

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. Transportation: There are several Forest Service Roads open to public use within the area, as well as U.S. Highway 160. San Juan River- East Fork San Juan River-West Fork The East Fork San Juan River corridor contains Highway 160 is within the West Fork San Juan gravel roads and 4WD roads. There are trails and River corridor for 3 miles. There is an additional winter trails (road groomed for skiing or stretch of road maintained for passenger cars snowmobiling). The East Fork Campground and and a road not maintained for passenger cars Silver Falls Guard Station are within the river within the river corridor. There are also trails. corridor. A gravel road follows the East Fork, The West Fork Campground is in the river mostly along the north side, but it does cross the corridor. river in at least two sections. The entire length of the road is a Forest Service Road (FH 667) almost to Summitville (via Elwood Pass/Elwood Creek). A recurrent landslide reactivated May 2, 2008, and crossed FH 667 2 miles east of Highway 160. The road was closed to full-size motor vehicles until August 28, 2009, but is now open seasonally following a temporary gravel surfacing project. In winter it is closed to all motor vehicles except snowmobiles operating on snow; it is reopened when conditions warrant in spring. A main gas pipeline located along the roadway and operated by Xcel Energy ruptured during the slide and has been reconstructed several times since. U.S. Highway 160 cuts through portions of the East Fork and West Fork basins. There are numerous trails and Forest Service roads in the Area. Motorized travel on the USFS Pagosa Ranger District is restricted to designated roads and trails other than, in some areas, snowmobiles operating over snow. Uses That Require Special Permits: Most uses of USFS lands require permits issued. A list of major uses in the Area that require a permit includes: • commercial outfitters (mountain-biking, fishing, hunting, and snowmobiling) • livestock grazing (there are two active cattle allotments within the two watersheds) • timber harvesting • recreational cabins Weeds: Based on the San Juan National Forest's noxious weed inventory, the following noxious weeds are present in the East and West Fork watersheds: yellow toadflax, Canada thistle, musk thistle, oxeye daisy, and bull thistle. These weeds are primarily located along road corridors (East Fork Road, Quartz Meadow Road, Wolf Creek roads, Falls Creek Road, and West Fork Road). The watersheds as a whole are largely lacking noxious weeds, but where they are present along the road corridors, they are abundant in places. Map (see next page) 11