| Contacts: | Shannon Borders, 970-240-5399 |
Oh Be Joyful Campground Temporarily Closed (09-17-12)
CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. – On Monday, Sept. 24, the Bureau of Land Management will close the Oh Be Joyful Campground for up to three weeks to continue the stream bank stabilization project that was started last year. The Oh Be Joyful campground is located five miles north of Crested Butte, Colo. on the Slate River Road (Gunnison County Road 734).
Contractors will stabilize banks to prevent further erosion north of the campground as well as several erosive stream banks within the campground.
“This is a great time to do the work with low water levels to ensure stream banks will be stable for the 2013 spring runoff,” said Brain St. George, Gunnison field manager. “We also coordinated with the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife to ensure the fish population in the Slate River is protected.”
Access to the area north of the campground is available during the closure, and the public can park at the intersection of the Slate River Road and BLM Road 3220 and hike through on the trails west of the Oh Be Joyful Campground. Camping, parking or picnicking at the Oh Be Joyful campground is not permitted during the closure.
A notice lifting the closure will be posted at http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/gfo.html. For more information, contact the BLM Gunnison Field Office at 970-642-4940.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
650 S. 11th Street Gunnison, CO 81230