Vail Pass Task Force Update Steamboat Springs Update Backcountry Places to Explore Avalanches Calendar Links Contact Us Lynx plans could affect winter recreation By Bob Berwyn U.S. Forest officials say efforts to protect lynx habitat could affect winter recreation in the High Country, as land managers try to avoid creation of new compacted snow trails. Patton says that, with a vulnerable lynx population, every piece of the conservation puzzle could be crucial.
Winter is especially crucial for the cats, who are deep-snow specialists.
Their large paws enable them to hunt in deep, light powder, where they have a distinct advantage over other predators. Packed trails in lynx hunting grounds could enable competing predators to access an area, perhaps to the detriment of lynx. The move to limit packed-snow trails could, for example, result in limits on some winter activities in the area between Vail Pass and Copper Mountain. This area has been identified as a critical movement corridor - a landbridge that allows lynx and other forest species to move north and south between larger areas of habitat. Minturn-based USFS biologist, Joe Doerr, says that since the lynx was listed as threatened by the FWS, all Forest Service projects must be reviewed for compliance, but activities that result in snow compaction are getting special scrutiny.