Dear Editor: I read with concern your article in the Aug. 24 edition of the Plaindealer about an illegal gate installed on County Road 14 by a Ouray city councilor and disguised to appear to be an official U.S. Forest Service gate. This would have denied public access on a Ouray County road to public Forest Service lands and the very popular Horsethief trailhead leading to the Bridge of Heaven and beyond. This trail is heavily used by hikers, hunters, and equestrians.

I applaud the quick response by Ouray County in reopening this gate on a county road. This action was advocated over 10 years ago by the Public Access Group (PAG). The PAG was a collaboration of the county, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and local nonprofits, organized to address attempts made by various individuals to close public roads and trails and deny public enjoyment of public lands and historic trails and structures. Private landowners of backcountry property and inholdings in public lands have increasingly tried to deny public access to popular trails in Colorado for their own personal benefit. Access to several 14ers is still denied today. Your readers may recall a few local incidents:

• Camp Bird Mine gated County Road 361 denying the public direct access to Richmond Basin and Imogene Pass;

• Frank Baumgartner gated County Road 31 through the Red Mountain Mining District and threatened to tear down the historic and picturesque Yankee Girl headframe;

• Tom Chapman (among numerous attempts to hold public lands to ransom) tried to shut down the Wasatch Trail near Telluride and threatened to plow the See Forever ski trail to access his backcountry property in Bear Creek basin;

• Randy Gillum, the former owner of Gold Hill property above the city of Ouray, closed the historic Old Horsethief Trail.

It is disappointing to find that a Ouray city councilor is now using similar tactics for his own personal benefit. It is imperative that the county, U.S. Forest Service, BLM and all of us remain diligent if we want to preserve our rights to access and enjoy public lands under threat by private interests.

Keith Meinert Ouray