Partial trail closures scheduled October 9-18 for Valley Floor during timber transportation operations

Beginning Wednesday, October 9, the Town of Mountain Village (TMV) forestry department will remove standing dead and down trees from a swath of land on the north side of Mountain Village as part of its community-scale shaded fuel break initiative.

This work will involve a helicopter removing dead trees from areas that are otherwise inaccessible due to parcel boundary geography and the steepness of the slopes. This work will occur near and over Boomerang Trail, Jurassic Trail, Stegosaurus Trail and the National Forest System Trail #431 on the Valley Floor.

In partnership with the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forests’ Norwood Ranger District, there will be temporary trail closures in place to ensure public safety during helicopter operations.

These operations will involve transporting timber sourced from the fuel treatment areas to the Valley Floor as part of habitat restoration activities along the San Miguel River. Other trees will be moved to the Town’s shop area in the Meadows.

Helicopter operations are expected to begin Wednesday, October 9 (weather permitting) and will be carried out over a span of seven days between October 9 and 18. The trail closures will only be in effect when the helicopter is operating. A map of the trails to be closed is available at bit.ly/TMV24TrailClosure.

The closure area includes:

• Boomerang Road beginning at the intersection with the River Trail on the south side of the Boomerang Bridge and continuing southwest until the National Forest Boundary

• River Trail beginning at the intersection with Boomerang Road and continuing west until the National Forest Boundary

• The portion of National Forest System lands south of the San Miguel River and west of the Boomerang Bridge

Daily helicopter work and trail closure updates will be posted on social media by TMV, the GMUG and other local agencies. Notices will also be sent via text message to those signed up for Public Safety notices through TMV’s ReadyOp system.

To sign up for those notices, please visit: bit.ly/MVNotifications.

Signs, barricades and staff will be placed along affected trails to prevent access to the area when the helicopter is in the air.

The transported timber will be staged on the Valley Floor over the winter in preparation for the upcoming habitat restoration work by the U.S. Forest Service and Trout Unlimited. The restoration work is scheduled to begin in 2025.