I am questioning the integrity of our local U.S. Forest Service in decommissioning the old Frog Trail. I live in Keystone with access to this trail and was amazed by the destruction/cost of the federal efforts to decommission it. Why was I amazed?

One reason was addressed in a scoping document written Sept. 23 that states, “The current trail is unsustainable resulting in ongoing erosion and damage to the trail tread and corridor.” Wheelock (head of our Forest Service) stated that the trail went up the fall line and there were adverse impacts to the water supply. Both these statements are false. The (pre-destructed) trail was erosion stable due to its extremely rare use and it traversed the fall line, and the one creek flowed beautifully clear for over the 35 years that I have used the trail. The scoping document also stated: “The existing 1 mile trail alignment would be decommissioned and restored to its natural condition.” The old trail was decommissioned by a big machine that destroyed top soil, moved rocks, destroyed wetlands and used a sawyer to cut down both live and dead trees to block passage on the trail.  How could this possibly be restored to its natural condition?

Another reason was answered by Kirkpatrick from the Forest Service. He stated: “We have constructed a new Frog Trail which is where the recreation needs to be concentrated, primarily for the protection of wildlife resources.” I contacted the Summit County Division of Wildlife to see if they knew anything about this concern regarding wildlife protection. The Division of Wildlife stated negative, and stated that if there was a concern for wildlife, they would never have recommended building a new Frog Trail! 

Adding costs of the Forest Service massacre of this trail, they are not being good stewards of our lands.