The Ophir General Assembly voted to immediately discontinue opposition to off-highway vehicle use on Ophir Pass at a meeting on Tuesday.

The decision came about to appease Glenn Pauls, the owner of 1,200 acres in the Ophir Valley. Pauls is currently under contract to sell that land to the Trust for Public Lands. Federal Land and Water Conservation Funds will then be used to purchase the property from TPL.

In May, Pauls notified the Town of Ophir that he would pull out of his deal with TPL if Ophir continued to support a ban on OHV use over Ophir Pass.

"It's what I requested from Ophir and what we've worked toward doing," Pauls said on Thursday. "The county commissioners said they would leave the decision to Ophir as to whether or not to open the pass to OHVs. I fully expect the county commissioners to honor that" now that Ophir has agreed to allow OHV traffic on the pass. "Basically in my mind, it's almost a done deal."

TPL's purchase of the Pauls property, which will probably occur in phases, may be delayed until next year as congressional funding was not allocated for this year.

"I'm in it for the long haul," said Pauls, about his intention to sell the land to TPL. "I'm not really worried about it. As far as it looks now, in the near future it's going to be the way it is," meaning Pauls's goals for preserving the land mirror those of TPL's.

In discontinuing its opposition to the ban, the Town of Ophir also appointed a committee to propose an appropriate management plan to San Miguel County.

"The committee will begin work immediately and in good faith that their input will be key to resolution language adopted by San Miguel County in the near future," wrote Ophir mayor Monica Carey in a letter addressed to county commissioners earlier this week.

An OHV task force consisting of staff representatives from San Miguel County and the U.S. Forest Service was created in 2004 to oversee OHV issues on the three passes in the east end of the county, Ophir, Black Bear and Imogene. Earlier this year, the task force recommended closing Ophir Pass but leaving Black Bear and Imogene passes open to OHVs, subject to a new management plan.

County Commissioner Art Goodtimes told Carey in an email on Thursday that the commissioners would consider results from the Ophir committee when changing management policies for the high country.

"It's all moving forward," said Pauls. "I want to thank Ophir" for working to this end. "I know some people were not totally behind it, but they hunkered down and got the job done. I want to thank them for putting the effort forward."