The 14-day comment period ends April 29

(Salida, CO, April 15, 2026) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is seeking public comment for an upcoming project located on the Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands, Salida Ranger District. The 14-day scoping period is open from April 15-29. The proposed project would allow PowderMonarch, LLC to expand the existing Upper/Paradise Parking Lot and reroute the existing access road to the parking lot at Monarch Mountain.

The construction process would excavate the existing parking lot to lower the surface by 15 feet to create the new parking surface. The existing lot is 3.6 acres and would be lowered and expanded by 2.2 acres to provide 5.8 total acres of parking. This would add approximately 260 spaces of parking capacity to meet current and growing demand. All work would occur within the current special use permit boundary and the proposed parking lot expansion and access road reroute would amount to a total of about 9.6 acres of anticipated disturbance including fill slope from grade and erosion control.  
 
Written comments may be sent to Sarah Wiener, Salida District Ranger, 5575 Cleora Road, Salida, CO 81201 or emailed to Matthew Loscalzo, Mountain Resort Team Leader, .

Additional information and a map are provided on the project webpage.

About the Forest Service: The USDA Forest Service has for more than 100 years brought people and communities together to answer the call of conservation. Grounded in world-class science and technology–and rooted in communities–the Forest Service connects people to nature and to each other. The Forest Service cares for shared natural resources in ways that promote lasting economic, ecological, and social vitality. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, maintains the largest wildland fire and forestry research organizations in the world. The Forest Service also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 900 million forested acres within the U.S., of which over 130 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.

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