By Andy Hawk

The verb collaborate is “to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor.” Collaboration, the noun, might need a subdefinition of; messy, slow, argumentative, and occasionally illogical, but in the end, enormously rewarding. In 2019, our community embarked on a journey of collaboration, with the goal of improving forest health, supporting wildlife resources, protecting watersheds, returning healthy fire to our landscape and executing projects that knit together the array of jurisdictions and land ownerships common to our region. Stakeholders, representing numerous local and regional nonprofits, local government bodies, federal and state agencies, and regional businesses, sat down at the table to create what would become the Southwest Colorado Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. SJMA has had a seat at this community table from day-one, and we continue to represent our key values of Explore, Learn, Protect in these collaborative conversations today.

Fast forwarding nearly six years, through pandemic, drought and abundance, agreement and litigation, some of what was originally conceived in those early conversations can now be seen taking shape in our region. With funding provided to the San Juan National Forest, via the USDA CFLRP, projects such as the recently completed Junction Creek road chip-seal, the ongoing Grassy Mountain Shared Stewardship project, and the soon to begin Durango Hills fuels reduction project are the culmination of collaborative work and community voices. The fate of the USDA CFLRP is uncertain, but our community did well by engaging early and sticking to the vision that collaboration, as fractious and nonlinear as it can be, is what makes our natural world better.

Why on earth would funding for forest health be used for road work? This question resulted in some robust, not always agreeable conversations among CFLPR stakeholders. The answer is tied to other community planning efforts, the Junction, Falls Creek Integrated Management Plan Environmental Assessment and the Durango Northwest Recreation Environmental Assessment specifically. As odd as it may seem, the work to pave and improve the parking area at the Colorado Trail trailhead and to chip-seal the first few miles of the Junction Creek road, on the San Juan National Forest, are tied to goals of the SW CO CFLRP. To be able to conduct work at the human powered scale, and at the scale of logging equipment requires access. Additionally, the Junction Creek corridor is a priority fireshed for Durango and outlying subdivisions. With the rehabilitation of the road, the greater watershed is now primed for access, allowing for stream bank rehabilitation along the water course, hand thinning of small fuels on steep slopes and sensitive areas, mechanical thinning and mastication on other areas, and even activities such as small-scale commercial timber harvest.

How does SJMA fit into the pile of spaghetti that is collaboration? Well, we are often the translator of acronyms, the conveyor of facts at the Visitor Information Services desk, and the encouraging voice of the educator on a field trip for eager outside learners. Our Forest Ambassadors, with support from Care for Durango, were at the Colorado Trailhead this summer educating users about the chip-seal project, asking for patience during delays on the road and conveying the message that it takes years to plan, fund and execute the work but when finished, these projects open the door to many more opportunities. While we do not know the future of some of the local collaborative efforts, we do know we can share in the successes of the last six years of efforts put in by stakeholders, from a wide range of community sectors. While you are out and about enjoying the treasure that is our home region this summer and fall, take a moment to consider just how many public hands have played a role in what you see on public lands.

Andy Hawk is SJMA’s Associate Director.