New Forest Service Canyon Lakes District Ranger

[Dahl, Christopher - FS]

Hello – There will be a formal press release announcement coming out soon, but I wanted to share some initial information on the incoming Canyon Lakes District Ranger.

 

Dennis Kuhnel will be joining the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland beginning on June 5^th. Dennis has a wide range of experience and throughout his career he has worked in academia and for the federal government (BLM, FS, and NPS) in cultural resources, education and interpretation, recreation, and as a District Ranger for the Middle Fork Ranger District on the Salmon-Challis National Forests (USFS).

 

Dennis will be coming back to the Forest Service from his current position with the Bureau of Land Management. We will get you his new Forest Service email and phone contact information.

 

Thank you for the engagement over the ~5 months that I have had the privilege to fill in the role. It will be very exciting to have Dennis join our collaborative environment in Northern Colorado!

 

-Chris

 

 

Chris Dahl (he/him/his) Acting District Ranger Canyon Lakes Ranger District Forest Service Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland c: 970-657-5988 christoph...@usda.gov 2150 Centre Avenue, Building E Fort Collins, CO 80526 www.fs.fed.us Caring for the land and serving people

 

 

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[Dahl, Christopher - FS]

Hello Commissioner Kefalas – I received several messages from you since yesterday (4) and will address all here. If I miss anything, please let me know.

 

May 26^th Participation – The new Ranger and LEO will not be onboard at that point. Dennis (Ranger) will start June 5^th and thus not available until the June RFL meeting. I am not sure about the 2^nd LEO’s start other than I had heard it could be July. We will get them engaged with you and the group asap. At this time, Reghan, Paige Leddy (LEO), and I are planning to attend.

 

May 26^th Topics – It sounds like the following topics will likely be raised and of interest. We will be as prepared as possible to address these and questions from the group.

• Rec Sport Shooting – It sounds like there have been recent reports to you and the LCSO of shooting on National Forest lands adjacent to Crystal Lakes recently. This is news and we had not heard of this – either from our LEO or LCSO. The only updates we have is that construction of the Devil’s Nose Shooting Range begins this summer. The contract work had to be split into a separate set of options for full completion which the FS is working to fund now. Completion of the range may not occur until 2023. We have also initiated the associated actions to notify the public of our intent through the federal register and comply with the Dingell Act requirements. We anticipate this will be completed in spring 2023. This would put our implementation of closures in northern Larimer county most likely to 2023 sometime. I am trying to be conservative and hedge on the long end of the timeline. It could happen sooner, but trying to be pragmatic.
• Bear Gulch Access – I recently spoke with Gail and Reghan is more familiar with the issue. At this time, the District has not received any proposals to consider regarding this and we are not planning to take action on our own. With our current staffing and the fire recovery workload and future fuels reduction planning, a proposal for a project to provide exclusive motorized access to a private homeowner group without consideration for full public access would likely be low on the priority list.
• Grazing for fuels reduction – we will have some information to share on this. A large portion of CLRD is under active grazing allotments already. We will be able to speak to this.

 

Chris Dahl (he/him/his) Acting District Ranger Canyon Lakes Ranger District Forest Service Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland c: 970-657-5988 christoph...@usda.gov 2150 Centre Avenue, Building E Fort Collins, CO 80526 www.fs.fed.us Caring for the land and serving people

 

 

From: John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us>
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2022 5:50 PM
To: Dahl, Christopher - FS <christoph...@usda.gov>
Subject: Re: New Forest Service Canyon Lakes District Ranger

 

Hello Chris, 

 

Thank you for this official update about Dennis Kuhnel joining the Canyon Lakes District as the new District Ranger. I look forward to meeting him and want to confirm that he will be joining us at our next Red Feather Lakes Community Conversation, Thursday, 5/26, 12-1:3 PM. I also want to give you and your USFS team a heads-up that the RSS issue will most likely be prominent at this community meeting and am trusting that you folks can provide as much detailed information as possible - on where the USFS is at with the permanent closure process and law enforcement; would be great if your two law enforcement folks could be present. Some of the Crystal Lakes folks are pushing me to recommend another county emergency closure, which I am not inclined to do at this point. Captain Shellhammner will not be present because the LCSO has a meeting in FC with the DU Mountain Campus folks about disaster emergency preparedness and response. Joe will provide me with talking points about how the county will be monitoring the RSS situation this summer. Gail Perry also wants to make sure that we can have a meaningful discussion about the Bear Guld Road situation, and I understand that she has been meeting with one of our planners to determine options regarding easement issues and ways to address their concerns. Finally, Zach Thode from the LC Ag Advisory Board or I will be raising the issue of additional access for grazing on federal lands in light of drought and poor pasture conditions on ranches and non-mountain lands. Take good care.

 

	John Kefalas County Commissioner, District 1
	Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St | 2nd Floor PO Box 1190, Fort Collins, CO 80522-1190 W: (970) 498-7001 Cell:  (720) 254-7598 jkef...@larimer.org | www.larimer.org

 

[Dahl, Christopher - FS]

A planning update on Bear Gulch from the County will be good. If you have anything to share over ahead, please do. The County’s position will also inform the Forest Service’s position if there is a limitation on motorized access through the easement across Gail Perry and others’ properties.

 

Thank you - Chris

 

Chris Dahl (he/him/his) Acting District Ranger Canyon Lakes Ranger District Forest Service Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland c: 970-657-5988 christoph...@usda.gov 2150 Centre Avenue, Building E Fort Collins, CO 80526 www.fs.fed.us Caring for the land and serving people

 

 

From: John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us>
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2022 9:28 PM
To: Dahl, Christopher - FS <christoph...@usda.gov>
Cc: Cloudman, Reghan -FS <reghan....@usda.gov>
Subject: Re: New Forest Service Canyon Lakes District Ranger

 

Thank you for this informed and detailed update from you and your USFS team regarding staff that will be present and topics we can discuss with those assembled at our next 5/26 RFL CC. I am hoping to get an update from our planning folks regarding the Bear Gulch Road access issue. Take care Chris.