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Matchless Mountain

Proposals:
Matchless Mountain National Conservation Area
Matchless Mountain Wilderness
Agencies: USFS
Agency Status: inventoried roadless area
Counties: Gunnison
Nearest City of Town: Crested Butte
Description:
The mountains between Taylor River and Spring Creek form the magnificent backdrop for Taylor Park and the walls of Taylor Canyon. Along the spine of this land mass runs the Gunnison Branch of the Colorado Trail, constructed in the early to mid-1990s. The route is very popular for bicycling and motorcycling. One past threat to the area was a proposal for a large, pumped-storage reservoir at Rocky Point.
Conservation biology analysis by the High Country Citizens’ Alliance concludes that Matchless Mountain is quite important for wildlife. Unfortunately, the HCCA proposal for protecting these values sharply conflicts with the established recreation pattern. The CPP proposal would make the upper, human-traveled portion of the area a National Conservation Area and asks Congress to designate the steep, southeast-facing slopes above Taylor River as Wilderness.