{"id":50256,"date":"2020-11-23T16:37:56","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T23:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/winter-wildlife-closures-around-durango-take-effect-dec-1\/"},"modified":"2020-11-23T23:37:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T23:37:56","slug":"winter-wildlife-closures-around-durango-take-effect-dec-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/winter-wildlife-closures-around-durango-take-effect-dec-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter wildlife closures around Durango take effect Dec. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=784f2ff3-e559-4f42-98a5-4a78bf7d656f&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1542\" height=\"1030\" alt=\"Every year, areas around Durango are closed to the public to allow elk and deer undisturbed range to survive the winter.\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Every year, areas around Durango are closed to the public to allow elk and deer undisturbed range to survive the winter.<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>It may still be nice outside to go out for a hike, but Colorado wildlife officials are reminding trail users that closures in certain areas take effect Dec. 1 to protect critical winter range for elk and deer.<\/p>\n<p>Every year, certain areas around the state are closed, typically from Dec. 1 to April 15, to allow big game undisturbed space and range to survive winter, which can be a difficult time for animals trying to preserve energy.<\/p>\n<p>Matt Thorpe, the Durango-based wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said it\u2019s even more important to avoid those areas as development across Southwest Colorado encroaches on winter range.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe keep losing winter range in this area,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have fewer and fewer places to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thorpe said he understands that favorable weather drives people outside. But it\u2019s important people avoid wildlife closure areas to give elk and deer a better shot at surviving the hard winter months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are important for wildlife,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s their hard time of year to make it through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Closures are in effect for properties managed by CPW, the Bureau of Land Management and the city of Durango. Violations could result in a citation and fine. All closures are marked with signs.<\/p>\n<p>Closures in effect Dec. 1 to April 15 include:<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Bodo State Wildlife Area: Public access is prohibited from Dec. 1 to April 15.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">The Smelter Mountain Trail is open for hikers only from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dogs are prohibited.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Perins Peak State Wildlife Area: Public access is prohibited from Dec. 1 to April 15. Closures remain in effect through July 31 in areas east of County Road 208.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Big Canyon and Sale Barn trailheads off U.S. Highway 160 are closed to all public use.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">South Rim Trail, including portions of Sidewinder and Cowboy trails on BLM land accessed from Carbon Junction trail or Crites Connection.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Grandview BLM trails accessed from Three Springs.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">BLM lands above the lower loop trail on Animas City Mountain.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">All upper trails in the Twin Buttes open-space area.<\/em>To report violations, call 247-0855.<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"mwc_shirttail\"><a href=\"mailto:jromeo@durangoherald.com\">jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>provide elk and deer undisturbed range to improve survival<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,658,976,603],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-hiking","tag-outdoor-recreation","tag-wildlife"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50256"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}