Lynx listing triggered Vail Pass study

SUMMIT COUNTY — A recent Forest Service study of the Vail Pass area stemmed from the 2000 listing of lynx as a threatened species. As a result of the listing, which was forced by a citizen lawsuit, the Forest Service and other federal agencies had to filter every permit and proposal through a coarse lynx “screen” to evaluate potential impacts.

Existing and and proposed activities at Vail Pass didn’t make the cut, thus requiring more in-depth study, said White River National Forest biologist Liz Roberts.

National Forest districts on either side of Vail Pass are asking for more permitted uses in the 50,000-acre playground, and non-permitted use by the general public is increasing as well, Roberts said.

Roberts said the study looked at factors like food availability, foraging habitat, security habitat and denning habitat before concluding that intense human activity in Vail Pass area is adversely affecting the wild cats.

Offering a bit more detail, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Kurt Broderdorp explained that the federal agencies look at impacts on a scale of Lynx Analysis Units (LAUs).

“Is there so much human activity that it precludes lynx from feeding, breeding and sheltering in an LAU,” Broderdorp said, boiling down the essential question.

“This process will help inform the Forest Service how it manages these lands in the future,” Broderdorp said.

Roberts said the Vail Pass study was unique and generated a lot of valuable information because it was the first time biologists had a chance to study lynx in an area with such a high level of use.

“We have designated Vail Pass as an important carnivore movement corridor. We need to take steps to protect it,” Roberts said. The high number of trails in the area cuts off daytime areas where lynx can hide from foraging areas.