FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Due to heavy rains and saturated soils the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland officials are closing portions of the Boulder and Canyon Lakes ranger districts to the public for safety. The closure will also help facilitate emergency response and recovery in those areas.

A map of the closed area, along with other flood information, is available online at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/flood2013. Generally, it includes all National Forest System lands in an area on the Boulder Ranger District north and east of State Highway 72 and continues east of Highway 7 to the Canyon Lakes Ranger District Boundary. On the Canyon Lakes Ranger District it includes the area east of Highway 7 to the Forest boundary, north of town of Estes Park, lands east of the Rocky Mountain National Park Boundary to Signal Mountain, lands east of the Comanche Peak Wilderness Boundary up to the Fish Creek Trailhead then lands east of the Pingree Park Road up to Highway 14. The closure continues north of Highway 14 to the junction with the Manhattan Road (County Road 69) and includes all NFS lands on the east side of the Manhattan Road, south of the Boy Scout Road (County Road 68 C) and Red Feather Lakes Road (County 74E) to the NFS boundary.

The Forest is discouraging all travel and activities on the Clear Creek Ranger District and the Pawnee National Grassland until further notice, as well as areas of the Boulder and Canyon Lakes ranger districts that are not included in the closure.

The current condition of many of the forest roads is unknown. The Forest has 230 miles of roads across the hardest hit areas on the Boulder and Canyon Lakes Ranger Districts. Forest officials will be assessing damage as conditions allow.

The Forest Service is working closely with FEMA, the Incident Management Teams, the state and counties on the disaster response and will continue to do so.

“We are working through an unprecedented event in Colorado,” Forest Supervisor Glenn Casamassa said. “Our priority is public and employee safety. I ask everyone to do his or her part and respect all closures.”

Please use caution in all rain affected areas and travel only when necessary. Road status and closure information can be found at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/roads.