The Steamboat Springs City Council voted on Tuesday to approve funding for the Mad Rabbit Trails Project.

The decision came after discussion and public comment, and the 4-3 approval vote is for first reading of the ordinance. Council members on July 1 are scheduled to vote on a second and final reading of the ordinance required to make the approval official.

City Council members Michael Buccino, Steve Muntean, Amy Dickson and Joella West voted to approve the $1.6 million in funding. Dakotah McGinlay, Bryan Swintek and Gail Garey, the council president, voted against the funding.

“We’re super excited that council approved the funding … It’s been a long process, but it’s a public process and it’s been very transparent. It’s all been in the public eye. The result is a compromise,” said Craig Frithsen, president of Routt County Riders.

The Mad Rabbit trails project aims to construct 49 miles of non-motorized, motorized and adaptive routes and rehabilitate roughly 36 miles of unofficial trails that currently exist in the area. The plan for the Mad Rabbit trails area, which encompasses Forest Service land in the Rabbit Ears Pass area to the south and the Mad Creek area to the north, has been in the works since 2017.

The plan would add restrictions designed to limit bikes to designated trails, improve winter trailheads to accommodate summer use and add seasonal human-entry restrictions in certain areas to protect local elk populations.

The compromise between participating agencies — including the U.S. Forest Service, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and Colorado Parks and Wildlife — sparked controversy after the Department of Natural Resources renewed its objections to the project in late April, stating the Forest Service made “last-minute alterations” to the adaptive management plan that were “unacceptable to Colorado.”

The Department of Natural Resources and CPW initially objected to the project in 2023, but retracted the objection after the agencies worked with the Forest Service on creating the adaptive management plan, which included a wildlife study.

The adaptive management plan was presented to City Council in November 2024, which prompted the council to approve a resolution to commit $1.6 million to the project in early December 2024.

After experiencing some delays due to suspected federal complications, the Forest Service signed the final decision notice for the trails project, according to a news release issued by the agency April 3.

Following the Department of Natural Resources’ most recent objection letter, City Council discussed how to move forward on the decision to fund the project during a May 20 council meeting.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Michael Woodbridge clarified that the agency plans to work with both state agencies, although final decisions are ultimately up to the Forest Service. Woodbridge told council members that the adaptive management plan included in the Mad Rabbit project is the most “robust” and “comprehensive” he has seen in his career.

Representatives from the Department of Natural Resources and CPW were not able to attend Tuesday’s city council meeting due to “other previous commitments,” said the Department of Natural Resources Communications Director Chris Arend in a Wednesday email.

“We have remained in touch with both the City of Steamboat Springs and the U.S. Forest Service, and have appreciated the ongoing conversations with both organizations to create a successful, collaborative and sustainable trails system,” continued Arend in the email. “DNR and CPW will remain committed to a productive partnership throughout the project’s implementation, ensuring critical wildlife habitat is improved and remains intact on the landscape while providing a high-quality recreation experience.”

Longtime Mad Rabbit supporters — Frithsen and Routt County Riders Executive Director Laraine Martin — reiterated their support for the project.

“It is not just about the bike. It was never about the bike,” said Martin. “It’s about equitable, responsibly developed and thoroughly vetted projects like Mad Rabbit being approved and funded to increase access for all.”

Opponents of the project, including Keep Routt Wild President Larry Desjardin, voiced concern about the Forest Service’s transparency.

“Public trust in our institutions and all levels of government is at an all-time low,” Desjardin said during the meeting.

“Of course, we’re disappointed, but council previously approved funding Mad Rabbit, so we knew it was an uphill effort …,” said Desjardin on Wednesday. “This was principally about accountability, norms and protecting the integrity of the (National Environmental Policy Act) process.”

Following public comment, City Council members discussed opposing views on the project.

“I support our voters,” said council member Buccino, citing a 2013 vote that approved allocating a portion of the city’s lodging tax revenue to fund trail development.

“Both the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife have deeply committed regional and local staff who care about the future of our public lands,” said councilor Dickson. “While there may be disagreements between the agencies, I am not interested in framing this as a battle between the two of them.”

“Is what we have enough?” said McGinlay during the meeting. “I wonder at what point our love starts to take a toll on the very thing that we appreciate. I’m very torn here. I’ve been torn the whole time.”

Council members ultimately decided against phasing the funding, with Buccino advocating for the full allotment of $1.6 million.

Woodbridge said the Forest Service will provide annual public updates on the trails project for the first five years of its implementation.

“While City Council still needs to do a second reading and vote to appropriate the 2A funding at their July 1 meeting, this summer the Forest Service plans to start construction of trails and rehabilitation of user-created routes, utilizing Forest Service staff and resources, as well as partners and volunteers,” Woodbridge said in a Wednesday email.