LARAMIE (WNE) — With the purchase of a 79.5-acre parcel in the Huston Park Wilderness last month, the U.S. Forest has consolidated the last wilderness inholding on the Medicine Bow and Routt National Forests.
The parcel is located in the Sierra Madre Range in the Little Snake River drainage, west of Standard Park and just north of the Roaring Fork Trail.
Brush Creek/Hayden District Ranger Jason Armbruster said the parcel was part of a mining claim that dates back to the early 1900s. There was some exploration and mining activity on the property, but nothing in recent years.
Meanwhile, the 30,589-acre Huston Park Wilderness was established by Congress in 1984. Wilderness areas are federally designated pieces of public lands that are set aside to preserve their natural, wild character. They’re chosen for their outstanding ecological, geological, scientific, educational, scenic or historic value.
Motorized and mechanized travel, including mountain bikes, are prohibited in wilderness areas.
“Unlike other areas of the forest that are managed for multiple uses — timber harvest, recreation, wildlife, a host of other uses — wilderness areas are managed for that natural state,” Armbruster said.
Since the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, which allowed for the creation of wilderness areas, the U.S. Forest Service has been working to consolidate lands within wilderness boundaries.
Armbruster said consolidation is a management goal because private parcels within wilderness areas can potentially support development that’s inconsistent with the character of the surrounding wilderness.