Leslie skiing in her beloved mountains near Steamboat Springs.

Leslie Lovejoy is a woman with a mission. A mission to be able to ski into the backcountry of the mountains near her home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and enjoy the peace and quiet without snowmobiles zipping past. It doesn’t seem like a lot to ask for, but as Leslie’s found out, getting a little peace and quiet can be harder than it seems.

An avid skier, Leslie settled down in Steamboat Springs in 1983 after living in Switzerland and traveling around the world. Perhaps because she spent a decade living in a country where snowmobiles are not allowed, she found it frustrating to find snowmobiles whipping past her, no matter how hard she tried to get away from them.

In 1996, Leslie had finally had enough. Out with a friend on an all-day ski trip to Hahns Peak, Leslie was swarmed by a herd of snowmobiles. When she finally arrived at the top of Hahns Peak that day and looked out over thousands of acres of land available to snowmobilers, she decided to propose that a “Hahns Peak Sanctuary” be established. “A sanctuary on the mountain free from noise, pollution and motor vehicles. A sanctuary for wildlife and a place where skiers and others can go to experience the peace and quiet of wilderness as it is supposed to be,” said Leslie.

Leslie uses her artwork to express the beauty of nature and as a mode of activism.

She has now worked tirelessly for more than a decade to see her dream come true. She still has some work ahead of her, but the progress she has made proves that a woman on a mission can accomplish a lot.

Leslie has worked with Friends of the Routt Backcountry (FORB), as well as Backcountry Snowsports Alliance and the Winter Wildlands Alliance to help designated specific areas for non-motorized winter use. “The Forest Service is mandated to address user conflict,” said Leslie. In 1998, the Forest Service developed a task force, which Leslie served on for five years. They first identified areas for non-motorized use and then went through the complete NEPA process and environmental scoping.

While the issue has been contentious and it’s been difficult to organize backcountry skiers as well as work with the motorized community, there have been rewards. “I believe that we can call 25,000 acres of officially designated non-motorized use areas a success,” said Leslie.

Still, there is much to do, both in designating more areas and in upkeep. In 2005, FORB received a grant from the National Forest Foundation to help implement the new boundaries. Leslie, a graphic designer and artist, helped design a series of eight new signs that outline the border for motorized and non-motorized areas, provide maps of the Routt National Forest and a list of backcountry use regulations. “It was a battle up there for years,” said Leslie. “It still is, but at least now snowmobiles can get ticketed.”

Currently, Leslie’s biggest challenge is more on a national level, but gets reflected locally. In 2005, the Forest Service announced new regulations for off-road vehicles (ORV) and listed ORV use as one of the four biggest threats to the forest. However, snowmobiles were not included in the new regulations that require ORVs travel only on designated trails. Because snowmobiles were not included in these regulations they still follow the rule of everything is open, unless designated closed to winter motorized use.

“The result of this,” says Leslie, “is that they won’t come to the table to negotiate. They already have it all.” Despite the challenges though, Leslie is not one to give up. She is not quitting until her beloved Hahns Peak is free from motorized use. Unfortunately, the Forest Service ran out of money to complete the environmental analysis of North Routt, where Hahns Peak is located, and things have been stonewalled there for a while.

Still tenacious and dedicated as ever, Leslie says, “The battle continues and I’m not going to retire from it until I get North Routt designated.”