| Adoption Status: NOT ADOPTED
952 acres (1.5 square miles)
How to get there
The Budges roadless area is located about 18 miles north of Glenwood Springs. The best approach is from Dotsero.
- Take the Coffeepot Road just north of Dotsero, which becomes FS 600 (improved dirt) at the forest boundary. Stay on the Coffeepot Road all the way to Deep Lake. From Deep Lake, you can stay on FS 600 (high clearance) to Indian Camp Pass at the eastern boundary of the unit, and continue to Budges Resort at the end of the road, adjacent to the Flat Tops Wilderness Area.
- Reach the western extent of the unit by turning west from FS 600 onto Bison Lake Road (FS 640) at Heart Lake. Past Bison Lake turn right onto FS 645, and again onto Dry Buck Loop (FS 645). There are no maintained trails in this area.
- The USGS 7 1⁄2’ quad for Budges RA is Deep Lake.
Setting
Budges roadless area occupies the Buck and Dry Buck Creek drainages, which flow into the South Fork of the White River on the northern boundary of the unit. This area is on the White River Plateau, a broad volcanic uplift that features flat terrain covered in vast alpine grasslands. Stands of Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir appear here and there. Limestone cliff bands guard the creeks. The elevation in the unit ranges from 9,000 feet on the South Fork of the White River to 10,400 feet on the south boundary.
What’s special about it?
The incredible scenery of the area makes it special, as does the excellent representation of an alpine grassland ecosystem. Budges Resort is a recreational destination because of the natural beauty of the area, as well as its access to the Flat Tops Wilderness Area.
Potential threats
There is little to stop thoughtless off-road motorists from trespassing across meadows, and leaving an eyesore for many years to come. One threat to this area is the attempt by the USFS to drastically minimize the size of this roadless area. Budges is actually part of fairly large roadless area (6,134 acres), surveyed by conservation groups. This is another of many examples of the WRNF improperly confusing their responsibility to inventory an acutal on-the-ground condition (roadlessness) with their inability to manage illegal uses that impair roadless character. Roadless areas deserve to be recognized regardless of their “manageability.” Roadless is an on-the-ground condition and should not be defined by the Forest Service’s inability to manage illegal use. This essentially cedes public lands management to the few renegade users that don’t respect the law, allowing them veto power on a public process of determining how roadless lands should be valued and managed.
Other info
The additional acreage included in the citizens’ inventory contains traces of long abandoned, closed, and barricaded old routes that by definition are not roads and therefore do not disqualify these additional acres for a roadless designation.
Budges RA is one of nine roadless areas adjacent to the Flat Tops Wilderness Area. These roadless areas combined with the wilderness area, form a roadless complex of over 342,000 acres (533 square miles)! |
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