Wednesday, June 29, 2011

John Martin Reservoir State Parks Meeting

This note came from The Valley Grocery in Hasty, Colorado, written by Karen Downey, Operations Manager, Corps of Engineers, John Martin Dam, Hasty, Colorado..

“A meeting will be held on 30 June 2011 between Colorado State Parks, Bent County Commissioners and The Corps of Engineers in an effort to keep areas open and under the control of Colorado State Parks. Also in attendance will be U.S Representative Cory Gardner’s District Representative Doris Morgan. It would be of great help if District Representative Doris Morgan and Commissioner Bill Long understood how local people feel about having the presence of Colorado State Parks at John Martin Reservoir.

Please forward your opinions and concerns to:

Doris Morgan: doris.morgan@mail.house.gov

Bill Long: billlong@centurytel.net

This meeting will include discussion on the presently closed North Point Campground on the north shore of John Martin Dam, inside the park boundaries.

As I understand it, this particular meeting is closed to public attendance. There may be people here in Bent County as well as surrounding counties that would like to have input into this discussion. Though John Martin Reservoir State Park has not been here that many years, funding cuts and economic pressures seem to cause increasing fees and public restrictions for park usage; senior passes have almost doubled. Will further closures take place? Wouldn't it make sense to lower prices to increase visitor usage or let the Corps run the reservoir as it used to, without fees?
LinkWhile meeting with Karen Downey today, the Corps Operations Manager, she mentioned that she would like to see the campground re-opened for use again. I found this attitude refreshing and in tune with local opinion I’ve heard throughout the valley.

How do you feel about John Martin State Park? Let your voice be heard. A public/open meeting of southeast Colorado residents with the Corps and Park representatives would allow the public....a stronger say in the management of their Public lands.

Contact Doris Morgan (Representative Cory Gardner) at doris.morgan@mail.house.gov or Bent County Commissioner Bill Long at billlong@centurytel.net and let your voice be heard.

3 comments:

  1. Danielle,
    Thanks for the information.
    John Martin is a great place
    Oris

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for stopping by, Oris.

    This weekend holiday should pack the park - water is high, no pending storms for the moment.

    We've been out in the boat several times; the view of the dam from the middle of the reservoir is stunning, the misty wind in our faces invigorating.
    Try and get out for a picnic sometime!

    Danielle

    ReplyDelete

Please let us know what you think; we value our reader's opinions. Thank you for stopping by trailsofnature.