Occupancy and use regulations updated for Collegiate Peaks and Mount Massive Wilderness areas

The Leadville Ranger District of the Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands announces updated occupancy and use regulations for the Collegiate Peaks and Mount Massive Wilderness areas. The district would like to highlight that in addition to the original regulations, campfires are now prohibited above 11,000 feet in elevation.

These regulations will protect wilderness resources and character, manage recreational use and comply with U.S. Forest Service policy and the 1964 Wilderness Act. Wilderness areas provide a natural environment for plant and animal species and offer opportunities for solitude and recreation in a place mostly undisturbed by modern human development. In addition, wilderness areas protect watersheds that provide clean drinking water to surrounding communities, filter and clean the air and sequester carbon.

The Collegiate Peaks and Mount Massive Wilderness regulations are now consistent with the regulations currently in place for the Holy Cross Wilderness. These three congressionally designated wilderness areas are located within the Sawatch Mountain Range. This consistency in management is anticipated to lead to increased understanding and compliance by the visiting public, further protecting wilderness resources from damage caused by high elevation campfires and wood gathering activities.

Along with management consistency, these regulations will help to protect the sensitive soils and krummholz, which is a term used for trees that grow in the transition zone between forest and alpine vegetation. Trees in this zone grow slowly over hundreds of years due to the harsh weather conditions and can be severely damaged and perish if branches are cut or broken for firewood.

“Protecting sensitive alpine wilderness resources is the point of the regulations. These resources are extremely slow to recover from high intensity disturbance,” said Leadville District Ranger Pat Mercer. “Fire scars can last generations because campfires burn up the organic matter in the alpine soils that take a long time to get to a place where things can grow. These regulations are really geared toward long-term wilderness preservation.”

Forest Order #02-12-00-24-18 detailing the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness regulations can be read here.

Forest Order #02-12-01-24-24 detailing the Mount Massive Wilderness regulations can be read here.



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