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Forest Service land for sale includes riparian habitat along Roaring Fork River |
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011 11:04 |
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U.S. Forest Service land for sale includes a stretch along the Roaring Fork River. Aspen Times file
By Janice Urquhart, The Aspen Times
ASPEN — Pitkin and Eagle counties have been offered the right of first refusal to purchase 68 acres in El Jebel from the U.S. Forest Service. The parcel includes about 40 acres of sensitive land along the Roaring Fork River; the price has yet to be determined.
Pitkin County commissioners, who have previously expressed reluctance at spending county open space dollars to conserve what is already public land, were informed of the Forest Service's action Tuesday.
According to a Nov. 18 letter from the supervisor's office of the White River National Forest to County Manager Jon Peacock, the counties have 60 days to jointly indicate whether they have any interest in buying the property, which is the remaining piece of the former Mount Sopris Tree Farm. The counties acquired the rest of the former tree farm from the Forest Service through a land exchange in 1994; Crown Mountain Park and the Eagle County Community Center, a satellite government office building, have been developed there.
The counties expressed interest in buying the 40 riparian acres last summer.
The Forest Service letter indicates the counties would be required to enter into a conservation easement to permanently protect the riparian nature and botanical diversity of the land along the river.
Read more about the offer and the land involved at The Aspen Times website.
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