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Adoption Status: ADOPTED
25,344 acres (39.5 square miles)
How to get there
The
Mamm Peak roadless area is located about 8 miles south of Rifle. Many
access points to the area are blocked by private property.
- To access the western portion of the unit and the Battlement
Reservoirs, exit Interstate 70 at Parachute. Cross the Colorado River
on Garfield County Road (CR) 300 into the Town of Battlement Mesa. Go
east on CR 302, which becomes CR 338, along Battlement Creek. At a
signed pullout, this route becomes the horrific 4WD Battlement Jeep
Trail (best to hike this one!), and becomes FS 847 at the forest
boundary.
- About 1.5 miles within the forest boundary, the Battlement Trail
(2160) branches off to the left toward North Mamm Peak. This section of
the trail is legal for ATVs and motorcycles. Stay on FS 847 to reach
the Battlement Reservoirs. From the westernmost reservoir, Trail 2160
(this section not legal for motorized use) heads west to the North Fork
of Wallace Creek and the Housetop Mountain roadless area.
- From Rifle, you may approach the area via CR 317 (becoming FS 824
at the forest boundary), along Beaver Creek. However, this road is
closed at the enormous private inholding around Tepee Park. The better
approach from Rifle is to take CR 319 from the Garfield County Airport.
This becomes West Mamm Road (FS 818) at the forest boundary. This road
leads to several private properties, although there are some dispersed
campsites along the road before its closure. Trails here are unmarked
and circuitous; try not to trespass.
- To approach the southeast portion of the unit, exit I-70 at Silt
and cross the Colorado River. Turn right on CR 346 and then left on CR
331 (Dry Hollow Road). Continue south to CR 342, which becomes FS 270
at the forest boundary. From the Grand Mesa NF/White River NF boundary,
on the divide between Plateau and Divide Creeks, take FS 271 along the
divide past Mud Hill. This road ends at the eastern terminus of
Battlement Trail (2160), although the trail is difficult to locate.
- The USGS 7 1⁄2’ quads for the Mamm Peak RA are Rulison, Hawxhurst
Creek, North Mamm Peak, South Mamm Peak, and Hightower Mountain.
Setting
Battlement
Mesa is a dramatic, 20-mile long east/west ridge that divides Plateau
Creek from the Colorado River. The Mamm Peak roadless area occupies
much of the north slope of this divide. There are several rugged peaks
along the divide, including Sugarloaf Mountain, Haystack, Mountain, and
North and South Mamm Peaks.
The topography is varied, from the mid-elevation,
gentle grass/shrublands on the mesa between Haystack Mountain and the
Mamm Peaks, to steep, forested drainages, to 1,000 foot-high shale
cliffs at the head of the Mamm Creeks. Vegetation in the lower portions
of the unit consists of pinyon/juniper forests, sagebrush, and Gambel
oak. Higher up are aspens and large stands of spruce and fir.
Elevations in the unit range from 7,200 feet at West Mamm Creek to
11,123 feet on North Mamm Peak.
What’s special about it?
The
large size and diverse topography of the Mamm Peak RA provide a wide
range of ecological characteristics, and it has been identified by the
Colorado Division of Wildlife as an area of extremely high priority
habitat. The unit is the centerpiece of a long wildland corridor from
De Beque to Thompson Creek, and acts a big game transitional zone from
winter range in Housetop Mountain RA to summer range on the top of
Battlement Mesa. This is a fall concentration area for black bears and
is known as the best black bear core habitat in the entire
state. The unit is also an elk calving area
and hosts ample wild turkey habitat. Increasing residential
and energy related development of private lands to the north of
Battlement Mesa pressures wildlife to use this roadless area for
migration, underscoing the importance of maintaining the ecological
integrity of these roadless acres.
Although difficult access minimizes public
recreation in the unit, outfitters had long made a living guiding
hunters or horseback riders through the area. Unfortunately though, the
East Mamm Creek portion of the unit was despoiled in the summer of '05
by a 1.5 mile long road and 6 acre well pad for two exploration wells.
A second generation outfitter, whose clients had a long record of
successfull hunts and several state records, was permanently displaced
from this area. Should these initial exploratory wells prove
productive, dozens more may follow and the required road, well
pad, and pipeline construction on this steep and unstable slopes
could cause mass land wasting and certainly destroy the areas wildlife
habitat values. Battlement Mesa is also a scenic resource that towers
majestically over the Colorado River valley.
Potential threats
The
Mamm Peak roadless area is extremely imperiled by the current natural
gas boom occurring in the Piceance Basin. Mamm Peak RA and all its
superlative habitat and wild values is gravely jepordized by the
potential for rampant energy development. Roadless advocates should
request that any development of the existing leases require No Surface
Occupancy stipulations. Existing leases should also be allowed to
expire at the end of the current lease term. No new parcels in this
roadless area should be leased.
As this unit is bordered extensively by private
lands, motorized off-road trespassing occurs here. As these lands are
further developed, this activity will likely increase. The massive
private inholding in that surrounds Tepee Park in the center of the
roadless area was the site of a very recent large timber sale as serves
as testimony to the high value of the timber in this area.
Other info
Conservation
groups have identified 1,231 roadless acres associated with the Mamm
Peak RA, in addition to the acreage included here by the USFS. This
unit is separated from the 12,652 acre Housetop Mountain roadless area
only by a strip of roadless private land in Wallace Creek. Also, each
of these units are contiguous with large roadless areas on the Grand
Mesa National Forest to the south (the Battlement Mesa and Housetop
Mountain RAs, respectively). Together, these RAs form a roadless
complex of at least 75,000 acres (117 square miles).
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