The North Star Nature Preserve is a unique and valuable tract of open space in Pitkin County where development and recreation pressures threaten the integrity of the natural environment. Although the original intent for the acquisition of North Star was for both passive recreation and wildlife habitat protection , public lands available for recreation are quite abundant in the Roaring Fork Valley whereas elk migration corridors and other critical wildlife habitats protected at North Star are being lost at an unprecedented rate. The intent of this plan is to provide a basis for the long term management of the North Star Nature Preserve that balances protection of the ecosystem processes that support the biological diversity within the Preserve with compatible recreational and educational uses.
Although North Star is ecologically sensitive and any human use will have an impact, it is also an important cultural asset to the citizens of the Roaring Fork Valley that can further ecological awareness and understanding. As such, one of the most important goals of this plan is to achieve a balance between North Star as a nature preserve and as a cultural resource. |
