Sheldon Kerr, a Ridgeway resident, urged the Ouray County Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 9 to press federal and local agencies to restore public access where private gates now block routes to federal land at McIntyre Gulch. Kerr described multiple gates, removed Forest Service signage and spray-painted warnings that, he said, are blocking access from the state highway.
County staff said they are researching the matter and will provide a public legal update when internal discussions and GIS involvement are completed.
Kerr told the commissioners that the route at McIntyre Gulch was shown as open to two‑wheel‑drive vehicles on a Forest Service motor vehicle use map and that a lower gate near the highway appears to be on Forest Service land. “The private mining claim owner has put up multiple gates, and has removed the Forest Service sign,” Kerr said. He said a sign at the lower gate was altered to read “private property” and that someone spray‑painted “no through hike” on a project sign.
Commission Chair (name on record) asked county staff to respond. Marita, a county staff member involved in the research, said Sept. 9 that departments are “completing kind of the research end” and that the issue is “complicated, but not, not to the point that we can't move it along.” Marita added the county is taking the matter “very seriously.”
County staff and commissioners also encouraged outreach to the Forest Service. Kerr said he has tried contacting Forest Service staff and that he had not received a response; he told the board he had contacted a U.S. senator’s office seeking help with lower‑gate enforcement. A commissioner said the board and community expect a public update and the county will involve GIS and former Public Access Group members and local historians to help document historic routes.
The county did not announce any formal legal action on Sept. 9. Staff described ongoing research and said next steps will depend on internal conversations and legal review before the board decides a course of action.
Kerr said the route is a historically identified public access route and asked that, if the county’s research supports it, staff reach out to former public‑access volunteers and the Forest Service. Marita said the research may come to the board in a work session format and that staff understand the issue is a high priority for the community.
The board did not vote on any motion regarding McIntyre Gulch during the meeting. The item remained in the discussion/direction stage at the close of public comment.