Keeping Skiing & Fisheries Compatible
Skiing and native trout can co-exist!
The Loveland Ski Area under the terms of its USDA Forest Service permits is required to take several actions to help ensure that cat-serviced skiing in the Dry Gulch watershed operates in harmony with Greenback cutthroat trout conservation including:
Keeping cat operations to designated routes, and ensuring adequate depth (2ft or more) of compacted snow along snowcat routes before regular cat skiing operations, to avoid damage to underlying vegetation and soils;
Having containment kits with all snowcats to contain and mitigate any skills if they occur;
Keeping the skier pick-up are 100 feet away from the stream to avoid possible impacts;
Break up compacted snow at season’s end and creating snow/icewater bars to keep meltwater on cat routes from causing increased erosion;
Sharing information about Greenback cutthroat with skiers on the guided cat skiing tours.
