Carbondale commission to weigh in on BLM’s Red Hill e‑bike scoping, urges case‑by‑case approach

The Carbondale Bike & Pedestrian Commission heard testimony from Red Hill stakeholders and agreed to draft a town comment in the BLM’s current scoping period urging that any changes to e‑bike access be decided on a case‑by‑case basis rather than through an automatic, system‑wide reclassification.

Chris Brandt, president of the Red Hill Council, told the commission the council has discussed the issue for months and recommended against opening the heavily used front‑side trails near town because of congested, narrow trail conditions and the risk of increased user conflict. "The front side conditions are not conducive to merging in another layer of potential conflict," Brandt said, adding the council is considering limited options such as allowing access from the Schutte Ranch (north) side instead of the front side.

Speakers representing trail builders and riders urged nuance. Rich Grange of the Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association said surveys of jurisdictions and land managers that opened single‑track trails to class‑1 e‑bikes generally did not show major increases in conflict or maintenance needs. "There's actually no evidence that a heavier bike causes damage," Grange said, and noted roughly two‑thirds of respondents to RFMBA's survey were supportive or neutral about limited e‑bike access.

At the same time, pedestrian advocates raised concerns about solitude and safety on common foot‑use trails. "Most of the users on Red Hill are pedestrians," Jeff Colt of the Roaring Fork Runners said, urging commissioners to consider the pedestrian experience when evaluating access decisions.

Commissioners and presenters also highlighted implementation questions for any changed access: enforcement capacity is limited (past ranger coverage was twice a week), seasonal windows currently regulate some access (presenters said the Schutte‑side season for bikes has in the past been June 1–Sept. 30), and a parcel adjacent to town is covered by an AVLT conservation agreement that the presenters said limits non‑motorized use and may not explicitly address e‑bikes.

After discussion, the commission agreed there is time to comment during the BLM's initial scoping window (the scoping period opened Feb. 23 and was described to commissioners as active through about March 25) and that the town should weigh in now on how the agency structures the environmental assessment (EA). Commissioners directed a small drafting group to prepare a comment that emphasizes process‑level concerns and asks the BLM not to adopt an across‑the‑board change opening all Red Hill trails to e‑bikes, and to consider parcel‑level evaluations and exclusions for front‑side trails closest to Carbondale.

Next steps: the commission will draft suggested comments and revisit the proposal at its April meeting before any submission by trustees or the town. The BLM’s EA process will include a separate public comment period when the draft EA is released.