One of Colorado’s most popular privately-owned Fourteeners will become public later this year, putting an end to years of trail closures and liability concerns, the nonprofit that bought it says. But the former owner says he still plans to close a neighboring peak he owns to hikers unless the state takes action to reduce landowners’ legal risk for accidents that occur on their land.
On September 21, The Conservation Fund announced that it had purchased 300 acres on 14,295-foot Mt. Lincoln from John Reiber, a local landowner who bought a mining claim there in 2010. Reiber, who also owns property on nearby Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Bross, had repeatedly closed access to the popular 7.5-mile Decalibron Loop after a 2019 U.S. Court of Appeals decision affirmed a $7.3 million award to a cyclist who suffered a serious injury on a damaged section of trail at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The decision highlighted the potential legal consequences for landowners who allow recreationists onto their property.
This summer, Reiber reopened the loop to hikers under a new system that required them to sign a waiver online before hitting the trail, but warned the Colorado Sun that it was a “stopgap” solution until state lawmakers approved a more permanent fix to the Colorado Recreational Use Statute (CRUS). The Colorado Fourteeners Institute estimates that the nearby town of Alma lost $5 million in revenue from visitors due to the latest closure, which spanned from early March until July 28.
The newly-purchased land includes the Kite Lake Trailhead, the summit of Mt. Democrat, and the trail to the top. The Conservation Fund plans to transfer it to the U.S. Forest Service, which will pay the organization back from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, by the end of 2023. In a press release, the organization’s Colorado project manager, Kelly Ingebritson, called the purchase “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a model for how conservation can solve America’s recreational access issues and benefit local communities.”
But while advocates hailed the purchase as a step forward for hikers’ access, larger questions still remain about the future of neighboring fourteeners Lincoln and Bross, which Reiber still owns. At issue is a loophole in the CRUS, which allows hikers or other recreationists who suffer an injury on private land to sue in the case of “willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a known dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity.” Reiber has argued that the exception exposes him and other landowners to legal risk, especially since the area around the Decalibron Loop is home to a number of abandoned shafts and other historic mining infrastructure.
In a statement published on its site, the Fix CRUS Coalition, a group of 39 outdoor nonprofits and businesses including the Continental Divide Trail Coalition, the Colorado Trail Foundation, and the American Alpine Club, wrote that while the acquisition of Democrat would guarantee hikers’ ability to visit the peak, access to the summit of Mt. Lincoln and the trail across Mt. Bross will still close next spring unless the legislature takes action to close the loophole. (Reiber has said he plans to keep the summit of Bross closed for the foreseeable future.)
“The acquisition of Mount Democrat marks a huge step forward for everyone who loves Colorado’s outdoors,” Anneliese Steel, the organization’s chair, said. “However, the sale is also a stark reminder that our work isn’t done. We need to continue building momentum to strengthen Colorado’s Recreational Use Statute (CRUS) for the sake of all our 14ers, trails, and the communities that rely on them.”
This spring, state Sen. Mark Baisley, whose district includes Alma, sponsored a bill that would have granted landowners broader protections against liability. The measure garnered broad support across the outdoor community—and faced opposition from only the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and two other attorneys, including one who represented the accident victim in the Air Force Academy case. The state senate’s judiciary committee killed that bill on a party-line vote.
From 2023
