San Juan National Forest officials are considering fencing off an area next to the Dolores River at the Line Camp because heavy usage there has caused damage to riparian habitat.

When officials at the Mancos-Dolores Ranger Station heard about a large church revival overflowing onto national forest land earlier this month, it was news to them.

Now, after studying the impacted area, they are considering fencing it off to prevent further damage.

From Aug. 6 to 10, the Church of the First Born held its annual national church revival at Line Camp, a popular tourist attraction featuring Western entertainment, about 10 miles north of Dolores.

For five days, more than 1,000 people gathered to pray and worship, and many of their activities and camping occurred on national forest land that lies along the Dolores River and borders the Line Camp.

This presented a problem for Forest Service officials because the church had not purchased a permit. Forest Service regulations require that any group of over 75 must have a permit to meet on national-forest land. This is primarily to prevent problems with sewage, trash, fires, and other potential environmental impacts.

Chief Ranger Mike Znerold said that Forest Service officials and the sheriff’s department went to investigate after they were notified the revival was taking place.

"My initial concerns were sanitation and fire, and when the rumors came flooding in here, they were about sanitation. Neither of those were a problem; they had plenty of Porta-Potties and there weren’t any fires."

Members of the group said they didn’t realize they were camping on Forest Service land. They had paid to gather at Line Camp, owned by Val Truelson, and spread out to camp next to the river.

Glenn Case, an organizer of the revival from Dolores, said this is the second year the group has met at Line Camp. Case explained that the church’s national campground committee brought in Porta-Potties for the group, and that no one from Line Camp had showed them where the boundaries were.

"We’d have gotten a permit if we’d have known," he said.

Carol Stepe, a Realtor with River Mountain Properties and neighbor to Line Camp, said that she saw members of the group changing dirty diapers on the Dolores River bank, and counted 1,100 adults milling around during the revival.

"We usually leave the place cleaner than when we found it," Case said. The Forest Service did not issue any fines, either to Line Camp or the church, but is considering ways to either rehabilitate the area or conduct a land exchange with Truelson.

Truelson’s property blocks off the approximately 30 acres of national-forest land from state Highway 145. The only other way to access the land is from Haycamp Mesa, on the other side of the river. "It’s almost inaccessible to the public except off of Haycamp," said Znerold.

Truelson said that he doesn’t charge people for access to the river. "Fishermen go in there all the time that want to go fishing," he said. Yet, Forest Service officials said it is obvious Truelson has been letting Line Camp clients use the public land as if it were an extension of his own property.

Leslie Stewart, a range conservationist who is recommending a mitigation plan, thinks that high-impact activity has been taking place there for years.

"There’s no vegetation left," she said. "When you sift through the dirt there are no root systems. The ground vegetation is pretty much gone as much as 150 feet from the river."

She estimated that it would take three years of reseeding with no human impacts to fully restore the Cottonwood floodplain habitat. "The soils are so compacted it may not even seed in," she said.

In addition, a large gravel parking lot was put on the property — on portions of Line Camp and national-forest land — without a special-use permit.

Znerold said that the Forest Service could ask Truelson to apply for a special-use permit for the campground, but they don’t have the personnel to administer it.

"It would be like having a private campground on federal lands and there is no way to administer it," said Lewis.

Trail riding and hiking are the only uses permitted for the region currently.

Znerold said at a minimum they would have to clearly mark the boundaries of the property again. "If we’re going to restore it, then fencing is just about essential," he said.