According to The Colorado Springs Gazette, land managers in Manitou Springs have claimed that the city might begin to charge hikers money to climb the Incline, a prominent 2,090-foot hiking trail located in Manitou Springs.
Many Manitou Springs residents support this motion and hope that the city will begin charging the hikers because they believe that it will help reduce the excessive noise and traffic that the hikers bring to the area. In January 2013, after the U.S. Congress settled property issues over the trail between the Colorado Springs locals and the National Forest Service officials, the Incline opened to the public. It gained immense popularity and now reins in over 300,000 hikers a year to the site. As a result, the climbers have crowded the streets of Manitou Springs with their vehicles and have continuously disrupted the residents’ sleep at early times of the day with excessive noise and chatter.
“Some are being woken up every day at 4:30, 5 in the morning,” resident Ken Jaray told The Gazette. “People are slamming their car doors. They’re excited. They’re noisy. They’re in loud trucks. You can’t keep your windows open in the summer because of the noise.”
In addition to the noise, the people of Manitou Springs have also complained that the hikers have polluted the city with litter, dog poop, and excessive road rage. In order to resolve these issues, the Manitou Springs’ land managers have suggested charging the hikers money to climb the trail, which would reduce its popularity, and in turn, eliminate these problems.
Moreover, as cited in The Gazette, Sarah Bryarly, a Colorado Springs parks planner, has claimed that the Incline will need funding in order for it to remain open. With trail maintenance fees exceeding $2.5 million, she states that hikers must be charged for trail upkeep.
Land managers, parks planners, and many of the residents of Manitou Springs believe that billing the hikers will prove beneficial to the city. Several others, however, seem to disagree.
Valerie Maravailla, a student living in the Outdoor Education Special Interest (OESIC) LLC at Colorado College claims that that charging people money to hike the Incline is detrimental because it prevents hikers from exercising and enjoying nature.
“You shouldn’t discourage people from being outside,” she said.
Similarly, a few faculty members working in CC’s Alberg Gear House agree that charging hikers to climb the Incline is unfair to the general public.
“Charging people would make the Incline very inaccessible,” said the supervisor, Rachel Abler. “It would make the trail more of a tourist attraction than a trail for the locals.”
Niyat Ogbazghi
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