Pitkin County is one step closer to managing one of Colorado’s most beloved natural wonders.
County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday afternoon to approve a special-use permit to operate the Maroon Bells Scenic Area. Moments later, they also unanimously approved a new fund to cover maintenance and other costs associated with the beloved scenic area. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come every year to photograph the rocky twin 14ers, whose reflection shines clearly on Maroon Lake below.
The U.S. Forest Service, which currently manages the Maroon Bells, says it will soon announce the start of a 15-day comment period. The agency did not initially include a comment period but was pressured by environmental groups worried about the scope and implications of this proposed management change, set to take place in 2027.
The big message at the county commissioners meeting, however, is that this actually won’t be much of a change. Gary Tennenbaum, Pitkin County’s Open Space and Trails director, explained that the county has been partnering with the federal government to manage the Maroon Bells for nearly 50 years.
With the county overseeing day-to-day operations, “there is going to be no change to what the visitor sees up there,” Tennenbaum said, adding that any changes visitors did notice would be beneficial, like deferred maintenance projects that the federal government hasn’t had the time, money or employees to fix.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteMaroon Bells in White River National Forest outside of Aspen. May 28, 2022.
“I’m incredibly proud to be part of a county that wants to do this because they want to protect the resource,” he said. “It is so special up there.”
While the county is supposed to pay the Forest Service 18% of the Bells’ revenue as a permit fee, the federal government will allow the county to put all of that money into maintenance projects, which Jennifer Schuler explained are badly needed. As the district ranger for the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District on the White River National Forest, Schuler has seen first-hand that “infrastructure is degrading,” she said.
Pitkin County will have the ability to “better address staffing, annual maintenance and deteriorating infrastructure that we’re seeing under Forest Service management,” she said.
While little criticism was offered at the meeting, some environmental groups have decried the lack of an environmental review process for these proposed changes. Other people worry the increase in daily use fees for vehicles and camping fees will make the area less accessible to locals. Pitkin County says those changes are needed to pay for running and maintaining such a large and popular attraction.
Another weighty criticism is that this is part of a larger federal trend to change how public land is run, shifting operations to local entities — even private companies. If Pitkin County doesn’t take over the Maroon Bells’ management, private concessionaires could bid on it, making one of Colorado’s most recognizable landmarks into a for-profit enterprise.
It “ought ring the alarms” that the federal government is handing over management of such a treasured spot, said Will Roush, executive director of the environmental nonprofit Wilderness Workshop.
Roush supports the change, however, and thanked Pitkin County for “stepping up, making the best of a bad situation.”
He also expressed hope, as many speakers did, that the county could hand back control of the Maroon Bells to the federal government after five years, after the special-use permit ends.
