Pikes Peak Highway Monitoring

Monitoring the Effectiveness and Validating Response to the Road Related Mitigation Practices Implemented on the Pikes Peak Highway

In May 2001, a study plan was approved as part of the settlement agreement between the Sierra Club and the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service in Sierra Club v. Venneman, Civil Action No. 98-M-662 (D. Colo.), (U.S. Department of Justice 2002). The original study plan and subsequent amendments call for effectiveness monitoring, designed to assess the on-site effectiveness of the mitigation practices implemented; and validation monitoring, designed to document the off-site impacts on the riparian, wetland, and aquatic systems within the area of influence of the Pikes Peak Highway (USDA Forest Service 2002 and 2003). As specified by the settlement agreement, the Forest Service provides annual reports and data describing the progress of the monitoring. The monitoring effort began in 2003 and ends in 2017.

• 2001 Draft Study Plan (April 9, 2001) (PDF, 67 KB)
• 2003 Study Plan Amendment #1 (April 1, 2003) (PDF, 78 KB)
• 2003 Field Season Annual Report – First Year (PDF, 1.2 MB)
• 2004 Field Season Annual Report – Second Year (PDF, 73.7 MB)
• 2005 Field Season Annual Report – Third Year (PDF, 2.3 MB)
• 2006 Field Season Annual Report – Fourth Year (PDF, 3.0 MB)
• 2007 Field Season Annual Report – Fifth Year (PDF, 0.9 MB)
• 2008 Field Season Annual Report – Sixth Year (PDF, 1.3 MB)
• 2009 Field Season Annual Report – Seventh Year (PDF, 15.6 MB)
• 2010 Field Season Annual Report – Eighth Year (PDF, 3.6 MB)
• 2011 Field Season Annual Report – Ninth Year (PDF, 3.8 MB)
• 2012 Field Season Annual Report – Tenth Year (PDF, 5.3 MB)
• 2013 Field Season Annual Report – Eleventh Year (PDF, 5.4 MB)
• 2014 Field Season Annual Report – Twelfth Year (PDF, 6.2 MB)
• 2015 Field Season Annual Report – Thirteenth Year (PDF, 4.4 MB)
• Contact Rick Ulrich for the 2016 and 2017 Annual Reports.

Associated data for 2003 to 2017 are provided below in compressed self-extracting files or zip files. Download the file(s) of interest to your computer and extract their contents to your computer.

• 2003 Data (.exe, 74.7 MB)
• 2004 Data (.exe, 133.3 MB)
• 2005 Data (.exe, 155.8 MB)
• 2006 Data (.exe, 72.5 MB)
• 2007 Data (.exe, 104.3 MB)
• 2008 Data (.exe, 124.4 MB)
• 2009 Data (.exe, 103.7 MB)
• 2010 Data (.exe, 114.1 MB)
• 2011 Data (.exe, 133.1 MB)
• 2012 Data (.exe, 154.0 MB)
• 2013 Data (.exe, 853.0 MB)
• 2014 Data (.exe, 1.3 GB)
• 2015 Data (.zip, 2.1 GB)
• 2016 Data (.zip, 13.3 GB)
• 2017 Data (.zip, 8.5 GB)

Field Guide

The field guide describes in detail the procedures for monitoring and documenting the effectiveness of mitigation practices outlined in the monitoring plan for the Pikes Peak Highway. It includes a description of the current monitoring protocols and data collected for each metric of concern and will be updated to document future changes in monitoring protocols.

• Contact Rick Ulrich for the current version of the Field Guide.

Staff Contact

For project photos and further information, contact:

Rick Ullrich
Assistant Director
U.S. Forest Service Resource Information Group (RIG)
202-205-1120 or rullrich@fs.fed.us