Earth Day 2020: A Great Day to Explore and Protect the San Juans
By Brent Schoradt, SJMA Executive Director
Today is the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. Fifty years ago, on April 22, 1970, more than 20 million Americans joined together to demand greater protections for our forests, watersheds, and air. This collective action helped lead to the passage of America’s bedrock environmental laws. Within months, President Nixon signed the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act was soon to follow in 1972. Since the first Earth Day, Congress has added nearly 100 million acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System, including the Weminuche Wilderness in 1975.
Earth Day is a great reminder that, in our democracy, ordinary citizens can help determine the fate of our most treasured natural resources, and the Earth itself. This is the ethos of the San Juan Mountains Association. Since its founding in 1988, SJMA has empowered the public to explore, learn about, and protect the spectacular public lands of Southwest Colorado.
In celebration of Earth Day, SJMA encourages everyone to get outside and enjoy your public lands in a safe and meaningful way. Look around, think of those who came before and left this magnificent natural legacy in Southwest Colorado. Think of what you can do to inspire and empower the next generation to care for our public lands and pass on a legacy of conservation through the ages.
This year, SJMA merged with Durango Nature Studies in our quest to build a sustaining conservation ethic in Southwest Colorado. Our goal is simple: to inspire the next generation of land stewards through science-based outdoor education.
We all know that many folks are unable to donate right now. If you are able to donate today, you have the power to give on behalf of those who cannot. You can stand up for our public lands and help our entire community build a conservation ethic that will stand the test of time. Your donations make a difference and we sincerely thank you for contributing.
Many of the organizers and participants of the original Earth Day, were young people inspired to act during challenging times. Your donation today will help us inspire the next generation to stand up for our public lands and face the unprecedented challenges that await them.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Payroll Department, all donations to SJMA during this difficult time will be matched, up to $7,000, doubling your impact. Moreover, all donations of $50 or more will receive a free “Wild for the Weminuche Wilderness” t-shirt. What a great way to get kids outdoors and show your support for our local public lands.
Thank you for standing with SJMA on this Earth Day. Your support means the world to us.
- Published in Nature, News, Uncategorized
Wilderness Efforts in time of Covid
by David Taft, Conservation Director, San Juan Mountains Association
As one of Durango’s longest running public lands education and stewardship organizations, San Juan Mountains Association has plenty of experience connecting folks with the outdoors and confronting challenges in the backcountry. However, just like everyone else, we are caught in the midst of the ongoing public health situation. We’re currently observing how it relates to our local public lands and the San Juans community, as well as figuring out how we will approach this season. We have been in close communications with our agency partners, fellow conservation organizations, and healthcare specialists to ensure that we can continue pursuing our mission of caring for our local public lands, while protecting the health of our staff and supporters.
This season we have planned on upping our efforts in the Weminuche Wilderness, and we continue working hard to ensure that these plans can go forward. This is especially important as people continue to retreat to the local mountains for their social distance, a trend likely to continue as weather warms and trails dry. In a collaborative effort with the San Juan National Forest, we will help manage a new San Juan Ranger crew thanks to generous donations from the local community. This crew will be backpacking through heavy use areas, documenting and maintaining trail conditions, restoring heavily impacted areas, engaging with the public (according to CDC guidelines), and ensuring that the SJNF has the information they need to make informed management decisions. We will be providing reports from the field over the course of the season so that we can all keep an eye on their progress.
While in-person volunteer events are off the table in the near term, there are still ways to get involved. Sign up for a webinar (we are hosting a Colorado Public Lands Day crosscut saw Zoom course!), stay informed about future volunteer outings through our E-News at sjma.org, and share your stories and photos to stay positive. We encourage everyone looking to stay excited about our magnificent local public lands by sending in a short write up along with photos of a memorable trip to the San Juans. You can send these to us at our instagram @sjma_co, Facebook, or info@sjma.org.
As always, we will continue to offer visitor information for local public lands, and our staff will do their best to provide the clearest up to date guidance on trails, access, facilities, and regulations.
Thank you, be safe, be healthy, stay close to home.
- Published in Education, Hiking, volunteers
Southwest Colorado Stands up for Public Lands
By Brent Schoradt, SJMA Executive Director
Open skies, big mountains, wild rivers, great trails, and great people. We live in a vibrant, thriving community surrounded by spectacular public lands.
We are drawn to Southwest Colorado for the easy access to unmatched outdoor recreation and proximity to wild open spaces. The word is out. Southwest Colorado has experienced immense growth in tourism and population over the past several decades. Our amazing landscape attracts thousands of visitors and new residents, who come to enjoy the scenery and get outdoors in the San Juan Mountains. By 2050, Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma and San Juan counties are collectively projected to experience a whopping 78% increase in population.
Our public lands are the backbone of our local economy and Colorado’s $62 billion outdoor recreation economy. Our forests and watersheds are the goose that lays the golden egg.
Unfortunately, public lands face mounting threats. Increasing numbers of visitors, declining wildlife populations, beetle infestations, drought, and catastrophic wildfire all threaten the health and sustainability of our forests and watersheds.
These are immense challenges. The question is: what can ordinary citizens do to help safeguard our public lands? San Juan Mountains Association (SJMA) seeks to empower the local community to give back to public lands in the face of mounting challenges. We believe in a vision of shared stewardship, where local volunteers work hand-in-hand with land managers to create a new model of public lands conservation based on citizen engagement.
We all have a role to play. SJMA invites every citizen, every town, every business, every school to join us as we embark on three key initiatives: (i) engage in public lands stewardship projects that improve conditions on the ground, (ii) educate the public on how to responsibly visit public lands without harming key watersheds and forests, and (iii) foster a conservation ethic that will stand the test of time by connecting youth of all ages to the outdoors through science-based education.
Here are two easy ways to join us this summer:
Become a San Juan Ranger: This summer, SJMA’s volunteer San Juan Rangers will educate wilderness visitors on proper “Leave No-Trace” practices, improve trail access, and conduct important on-the-ground restoration projects in the Weminuche Wilderness. The San Juan Rangers are ordinary folks willing to stand up for public lands by donating their time and energy to wilderness stewardship. Apply to be a San Juan Ranger and join us as we give back to the Weminuche.
Send a Kid to Summer Camp: This year, SJMA and Durango Nature Studies merged to create a comprehensive education program that connects youth of all ages to public lands through hands-on science education. SJMA is proud to continue the Durango Nature Studies tradition of providing enriching and educational summer camps for youth. Encourage your kids to get outdoors this summer by sending them to an SJMA summer camp, or sponsor a camp spot and invest in the next generation of land stewards.
Together, we can show the way and make Southwest Colorado a model community for public lands stewardship.
- Published in Uncategorized
Where the Wild Things Are
By MK Gunn
As I laced up my hiking shoes at my sister’s house in the East Bay area of California, my five-year old niece came running up to me. “MK!” she exclaimed, her dark eyes sparkling and curly hair bouncing. “If you see any animal tracks, will you take a picture for me?!”
I was elated by her interest in nature and told her that I certainly would! Yet I doubted there would be any animal tracks. Then I set off for the trails of Joaquin Miller Park. It was Sunday and, as expected, any critter tracks from the night before had already been covered by tracks from hikers, runners, and mountain bikers. The wild animals around here certainly knew to steer clear of the barrage of weekend recreationists. I barely even heard a few birds on my two hour jaunt.
The interaction with my niece got me thinking about just how different the lives of wild animals are in Colorado compared to areas heavily populated by humans. Since wild animals aren’t often seen, it can be easy to forget about their roles in nature and that their ancestors were here long before most of ours.
Spying wild animal tracks is a daily occurrence in Durango. Many wild animals make their homes on the edge of town and then wander past my house a mere mile from downtown. These include deer, raccoons, skunks, bears, coyotes, gray foxes, kit foxes, squirrels, and the occasional mountain lion. Many birds live right in town such as crows, finches, sparrows, juncos, magpies, and owls.
We are very fortunate in Southwest Colorado to have the state’s largest Wilderness area. (See my column from November 2019 for more about designated Wilderness). The Weminuche Wilderness contains 499,771 acres of roadless area. Joaquin Miller Park and adjacent Redwood Regional Park might seem big when I am on the trails, but their combined area is only 2,330 acres and there are occasional roads running through. Overall, East Bay parks cover a patchwork totaling just 120,000 acres that serves 2.5 million residents! The population in the counties surrounding the Weminuche Wilderness adds up to just 72,490 people – a mere 3% of the East Bay population.
Wild animals do live in areas heavily populated by humans but these animals spend much of their lives sneaking around to avoid humans. Redwood Regional Park is home to surreptitious deer, coyotes, raccoons, rabbits, squirrels and even the rare golden eagle and Alameda striped racer (a type of snake). As humans have encroached further and further on their natural habitats, they have had to adapt in order to survive. Undoubtedly there are far fewer wild animals in these places than there were 100 years ago. Not only have populations dwindled, but diversity of species has also greatly declined.
But there are many places in Colorado where humans are so rare that wild animals don’t even know to be afraid of us. A few years ago, I was on a newly cut section of the Continental Divide Trail. The trail was so new that the pikas were barely cautious when they saw me. As I stood there, they would run up within inches to get a better look at me and then run away. But they didn’t hide. They were so curious and cute! I’ve had similar experiences with pikas in remote corners of the Wind River mountain range in Wyoming. Once, a pika even licked my salty leg while I was taking a rest on a mountainside. Then it tried to nibble on me! There are wild animals living in Colorado that have never even seen a human. They live their entire lives deep in the wilderness.
So, the next time you see a wild animal – even if it’s a common mouse, deer, or magpie – remember how fortunate we are to have such a diversity of wildlife here in Southwest Colorado. But we are all responsible to make sure that wild animals are here for future generations. Please, help us all by doing your part:
- Properly store your trash and toxic chemicals – these can kill wildlife.
- Don’t feed wild animals – they will become habituated to humans and may become subject to starvation or poaching.
- Keep dogs on leash or within sight and under voice control. Don’t let them chase animals.
- Don’t taunt or scare wildlife unless they are clearly threatening you.
- Educate those around you as to what is best for wild animals.
- Remember, the wild is their home. We humans are just visiting!
MK Gunn enjoys sneaking quietly around the nearly 3 million acres of public land in southwest Colorado hoping that only pikas try to nibble on her. Contact her at MK@sjma.org.
Community partnerships paramount for our public lands
By MK Gunn
’Tis the season where most of us take time for year-end reflection and are getting excited about the upcoming year.
For me, this exercise reminds me of how grateful I am for this community and how we all work together to care for our public lands. Even though I have been known to disappear for days with no one else but me, I understand the importance of community and having so many people working toward the same conservation goals as me. Even the most introverted of introverts can’t get much accomplished without occasionally enlisting help from other people.
Think about it: What would you be able to accomplish without your community members? If you live on a farm, maybe you can produce your own food, but where did you get that tractor? You can claim self-sufficiency and commute everywhere by bike swearing that you don’t need the local gas stations, but you still need bike tires, chain lube and brake pads. You can collect all the firewood you need to heat your house, but what’s fueling your water heater? And what if you just need someone to listen and give you a hug? I’m sure every one of you has an arsenal of local supporters that help make your life easier and more enjoyable.
Our local public lands also have a huge family of support. In 2019, the San Juan Mountains Association collaborated with a number of local partners. Some have been with us since the beginning (like the San Juan National Forest), and others are new (Durango Outdoor Exchange), but every one brings something important to the table as we work toward a common goal – empowering the public to explore, learn about and protect our local wilderness areas and public lands.
I wish I could list all of our community partners, but then this article would take up pages. Our supporters at The Durango Herald and Cortez Journal graciously offer us a column each month, not pages. Here are just a few highlights of SJMA’s collaborations with local partners in 2019:
- Encouraged more than 4,000 trail users to “Leave No Trace” at the Ice Lakes trailhead thanks to the Outdoor Research Tiny Home, Backcountry Experience and our tireless volunteers
- Co-hosted the seventh annual Forests to Faucets teacher workshop with Mountain Studies Institute, Water Information Program and the Fort Lewis College teacher education department. Sponsors also included the Southwest Water Conservation District, Colorado Water Conservation Board, Durango Education Foundation, Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education and Trout Unlimited 5 Rivers Chapter
- Co-hosted the Hermosa Resilience Project with Trails 2000, Durango Nature Studies, MSI and the San Juan National Forest
- Educated more than 300 locals and tourists about the flora, fauna and geology of the San Juan National Forest thanks to Purgatory Resort
- Raised money for the Weminuche Wilderness and conservation education at our Christmas tree lot thanks to Alpine Bank, San Juan National Forest, Southwest Ag and a long list of individual volunteers. Special thanks to Alpine Bank for its longstanding support of SJMA programming and for being our 2019-2020 corporate partner
- Assisted locals and tourists with selecting a wild Christmas tree as part of the Christmas tree train – a collaboration with Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Wildfire Adapted Partnership and San Juan National Forest
- Provided hunter information to more than 100 hunters at our hunting booth at the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Durango office
- Hosted a “Share the Trails” poker run with stellar assistance from the BLM Tres Rios Field Office, Creeper Jeepers, Mesa Verde Backcountry Horsemen, Mancos Trails Group and Hoofbeats 4H
- Raised money for the Weminuche Wilderness with a 10k trail run and a chili cook-off thanks to Backcountry Experience, Ska Brewing, Durango Running Club, the city of Durango and a variety of local chili cooks from local nonprofit and for-profit businesses
- Provided visitor information to thousands of locals and tourists at our 14 bookstore locations thanks to support from district and supervisors’ offices throughout the San Juan National Forest and Rio Grande National Forest as well as the Mancos and Silverton visitor centers
- Created a greater awareness of recreation and conservation opportunities on public lands by connecting with young people in Montezuma County thanks to the Montezuma Inspire Coalition and Great Outdoors Colorado
- Raised a glass to wilderness and supporting local businesses on Noel Night at Pine Needle Mountaineering
To find a more complete list and contact information for these wonderful supporters, visit shorturl.at/btvGU.
Last but certainly not least is the community of individuals and families who support public land stewardship through memberships, donations and copious volunteer hours! Thousands of people from all over the country devote their time to caring for the public lands of Southwest Colorado. Best wishes to all of you this holiday season and on through 2020. What an amazing community we have.
MK Gunn is volunteer and education specialist for San Juan Mountains Association. She will be joyously celebrating the season thanks to her favorite community members. Contact her at MK@sjma.org.
Wilderness with A Capital W
By MK Gunn
What do you think of when you hear the word “wilderness”? Take a minute. Do you think of solitude or camaraderie? Of adventure or relaxation? Of wide open spaces or deep down and forested places? Do you think of wild animals – big or small? Or does the word “wilderness” conjure anything at all? And does it mean anything different with a capital W – Wilderness?
Southwest Colorado is home to the Weminuche Wilderness – the state’s largest congressionally designated Wilderness (with a capital W) area – and contains 499,771 acres of untrammeled lands. Our home turf also hosts the 158,790 acre South San Juan Wilderness, the 41,496 acre Lizard Head Wilderness, and the 37,236-acre Hermosa Creek Wilderness. That’s 737,293 acres. That’s 1,152 square miles! With all this Wilderness surrounding us, consider what you think you know about Wilderness and read on to see if you know your stuff.
The Wilderness Act was passed by the U.S. congress in 1964 thanks to the tenacity of Howard Zahniser. Sure, a myriad of others contributed to the idea, but Zahniser rewrote the bill an astounding 66 times back in the age of typewriters! He often worked on it for 30 hours straight. He also patiently attended 18 public hearings involving some 16,000 pages of testimony. All of this was to create a federal land designation never before seen in the U.S. Sadly, the stress of this killed Zahniser just months before he could see president Lyndon B. Johnson sign the act into law on September 3, 1964.
A great article on wilderness.org summarizes neatly that “Zahniser pointed out the law was intended to hold our expansionist tendencies at bay: “The nature of our civilization is such as to make wilderness preservation difficult at its best. That is the reason for wilderness legislation.” The main purpose of the Wilderness Act is to leave nature in, well, its natural state.
So, what can you expect when you venture into a designated Wilderness area? Perhaps most obvious is the lack of motorized and mechanized equipment. Human entry can only be achieved on foot or horseback. There are no roads, motor vehicles, bicycles, or even wheel barrows. (People with disabilities are allowed to enter via wheelchair). Land managers can’t even use chainsaws to clear the trails. Wilderness rangers and partnering non-profit groups use six-foot long cross-cut saws that take two people to use. These saws are remarkably efficient and very quiet. There is some pushback on the above regulations as well as much argument over just what “mechanized” means but that is a topic for another article.
This lack of motorized equipment not only forces everyone to slow down and smell the flowers; It allows visitors to experience only the sounds of nature. Wildlife is more at ease. One time, my dogs and I were walking so quietly through the Wilderness that as we stepped out of the woods into a clearing, we inadvertently sneaked up on a young mountain lion stalking a herd of cow and calf elk! It was like being inside an episode of Plant Earth. As the Wilderness Act states, Wilderness must have “outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation”.
The Wilderness Act also mandates that there are virtually no permanent manmade structures in designated Wilderness. “A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” The word “untrammeled” is often used by Wilderness devotees. Synonyms for “trammel” include drag, hobble, curb, inhibit, impede, obstruct, and encumber. Inside a Wilderness area, you will find no fences, dams, outhouses, weather stations, corrals, or shelters with the exception of some structures that existed before the area became designated Wilderness. If some sort of structure is erected, including a tent, it must be dismantled within 14 days. However, bridges are allowed where deemed necessary for safety. Other structures may be allowed on a case by case basis so long as they are “substantially unnoticeable”. For more clarification on structures in Wilderness and much more, read US Forest Service Manual chapter 2320 entitled Wilderness Management at this link: tinyurl.com/FSM2320-WildernessManagement.
Here’s something else to keep in mind: Many designated Wilderness areas have regulations that go beyond what is stated in the Wilderness Act. For examples, campfires are not allowed in Chicago Basin and the entire Needle Creek drainage within the Weminuche Wilderness. In our four local Wilderness areas, dogs are allowed to be off leash as long as they are under voice control. However, in the Indian Peaks Wilderness west of Boulder, dogs must be on leash at all times. There are sections within other Wilderness areas where dogs are not allowed at all. Group size limits also vary. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the local regulations before visiting any swath of public lands, Wilderness or not. Often, calling the main offices and talking to a real human being is the best way to make sure you have the most up to date information. Responsible use helps keep public lands open and beautiful for future generations.
MK Gunn is Volunteer and Education Specialist for the San Juan Mountains Association. She helps manage a variety of volunteers who spend days out in the Weminuche Wilderness educating visitors. Contact her at MK@sjma.org
Early Hispano History and the Iglesia de San Antonio
By Ruth Lambert
SJMA has begun a project to study the history of Hispano settlement along the San Juan River in Archuleta County and southeastern LaPlata County. The Hispano contributions are often unrecognized and under-appreciated yet they add a richness to our collective story.
Often at old or abandoned small settlements, the church and cemetery are the last remaining elements. In order to learn about the early settlement in the San Juan riverine area, this project studies five Catholic churches at Pagosa Junction, Trujillo, Tiffany, Allison, and the church ruins at Juanita. The project is assembling historical information from church records, genealogical data and interviews with knowledgeable people; collecting historical documents and photographs; and documenting the churches through field recording and photographs.
The communities of Pagosa Junction, Trujillo, and Juanita were established by Hispanos from the Tierra Amarilla and San Luis Valley areas and they developed mercantile stores, post offices, schools, mission Catholic Churches, and cemeteries. With the arrival of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1881, railroad facilities, portable saw mills, and bridges were constructed. Although some community members were employed by the railroad and lumbering industries, the settlements remained small, isolated, and Hispano with few external influences. The hamlets persisted until the 1930s through 1950s when train service was discontinued and many residents moved away. In La Plata County, the towns of Allison and Tiffany were initially established in 1881 as railroad stops that developed over time into farming communities. Hispano residents moved into these settlements for railroad work and later when lands were withdrawn from settlement along the San Juan River for a future water project that became Navajo Lake. Today, the remaining churches offer the best clues into early life along the river. The settlement of Tiffany and its church, the Iglesia de San Antonio have been the focus of recent study.
Tiffany grew from the early railroad stop in the early 1900s to establish a mercantile, expanded railroad facilities, a school, livery, and a dance hall. Ditches for irrigation and a lake were constructed to provide water for residents.
With a sizable Hispano population, the Iglesia de San Antonio, was completed in 1928 to serve local Catholic families. The building was constructed by local residents of hand-made adobe blocks that were covered by wire and stucco. The style of the church is reminiscent of Territorial Adobe buildings that were popular in San Luis Valley, and the Rosa and the Tierra Amarilla areas of New Mexico. It is all original.
The church was operated as a mission church from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Durango and was serviced by a visiting pastor. The church operated until 1972 when the regular weekly services for the parishioners were transferred to St. Ignatius in Ignacio. Over the church’s 91 years, it has been faithfully and lovingly cared for by local families. Mass is held annually on St. Anthony’s feast day in June when church members attend the Spanish Mass.
In early 2019, the Iglesia was listed on Colorado’s Most Endangered Places List, only the second listing in La Plata County and the first listing to recognize the County’s Hispano heritage. In September, the Iglesia was listed on La Plata County Register of Historic Places.
The church is an important part of the Hispano history of our area and a priority for preservation. The next steps for church preservation are applications for grant funding for stabilization and repairs and community fund raising. Once funds are acquired work is scheduled to begin next year.
If you have historical information to share about these churches or for additional about the Tiffany Church or this project, please contact Ruth Lambert at ruth@sjma.org.
Stewardship in Action: Announcing the Weminuche Wilderness Stewardship Fund
By MK Gunn
Those of you in the community who know me can easily understand that I would not be who I am without Wilderness. Wilderness – with a capital W – has allowed me days upon days of reinvigorating solitude. Here, the only sounds are those of Mother Nature. They are the wind blowing the leaves and grasses and howling through rock corridors. They are the wild animals such as the pikas squeaking, elk bugling, and coyotes howling. They are the flowing water – anything from the tiniest trickle to the roar of whitewater rapids and waterfalls. And sometimes the sound is that of nothing at all. These sounds are grounding, calming, inspiring, magical, invigorating, wild, and can bolster even the most destitute of spirits. And that’s just the sounds. There’s also the sights, smells, feelings, and tastes of the wilderness.
These experiences are more likely to be had in congressionally designated Wilderness areas where nothing mechanized or motorized is allowed. Sure, planes still fly overhead but outside of that, the sounds, sights, smells, feelings, and tastes are all natural.
Edward Abbey wrote that “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit” and “We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope”. I agree wholeheartedly yet not everyone understands these sentiments. Microsoft spell check defines wilderness as “wasteland; desert”. However, you don’t always have to understand someone in order to support their needs.
Wilderness visitation is on the rise and many of those who venture into Wilderness areas don’t know how to responsibly visit the backcountry. Not everyone has read the Wilderness Act or Edward Abbey. While some of these Wilderness newbies may find a new appreciation for land stewardship, unfortunately, irresponsible trail users often leave behind litter, braided trails, fire
scars, marred trees, and trampled vegetation. But please, don’t lose hope.
The San Juan Mountains Association (SJMA) is pleased to announce the Weminuche Wilderness Stewardship Fund. Those of you who read my July column may recall that one definition of “stewardship” is “the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving.” Since 1988, SJMA has been committed to promoting “responsible care of natural and cultural resources through education and hands-on involvement that inspires respect and reverence for our lands”. As visitor use increases, we want to make sure that these visitors understand how much care and support our lands need in this day and age.
The Weminuche Wilderness is Colorado’s largest wilderness area with almost 500,000 acres of conifer forests, wild trout streams, and jagged peaks. As the headwaters of the Rio Grande and San Juan Rivers, the Weminuche provides drinking water to millions of downstream residents on both sides of the Continental Divide. The Weminuche Wilderness Stewardship Fund will provide crucial funding to help mitigate the following challenges:
- Beetle infestations and severe avalanches have led to countless fallen trees that affect
the ecosystem and limit trail access - Growing crowds are leaving human waste, contaminating key watersheds, and causing
resource damage - There are currently no full-time rangers working in the Weminuche Wilderness on the
San Juan National Forest due to budget cuts
The fund directly supports SJMA’s efforts to implement on-the-ground stewardship projects, improve trail access, coordinate and equip volunteer rangers that will engage in stewardship projects and educate visitors on proper backcountry practices and educate the public on Leave No Trace ethics.
Are you wondering how you can help? Well, the easiest way would be to attend the San Juan Mountain Jam and silent auction on October 17. Enjoy local bluegrass bands while investing in new goodies to treat yourself or your loved ones. You can also become a volunteer or sign up to make monthly donations. Visit sjma.org for more information.
The work completed as a result of the fund will be just a portion of what SJMA does to steward public lands, but it is all of equal importance in the overall goal of protecting public lands and educating people on how to do their part to make sure our spectacular public lands can be equally enjoyed by future generations. There’s a lot of work to be done but if we lose hope or energy, we can always recharge our batteries by escaping into the Wilderness and then come back to keep on working. In the words of Ed Abbey, I leave you with this: “May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.”
MK Gunn is the Volunteer and Education Specialist for SJMA. She frequently loses herself in Wilderness in order to find herself. Reach her at MK@sjma.org.
- Published in Backpacking, Hiking, Nature
Wild at Heart
By Kent Rector
I’ve always been drawn to “wild” places. As a child I spent hours in my family’s yard playing in the bushes, digging in the dirt, and climbing trees. I guess I wouldn’t recognize our yard as “wild” these days but to the mind of a six-year-old living in Waverly, Iowa, my yard seemed huge and full of mystery. As I grew older, I started venturing further out. I started exploring the dry-runs and wooded areas around town. Eventually I found myself along the Cedar River on an isolated sandbar camping with friends nearly every weekend. I can now boast that I’ve spent countless days and nights on trails, in National Parks and Forests throughout the nation, and I still search for “wild” places today.
This last month I had the privilege of sharing my search with six high school students and a coworker. A large part of my job with Des Moines County Conservation is to develop programs that promote outdoor recreation and environmental education. In fact, the mission of my division is to “develop an environmentally responsible community.” So, I decided to put together a Wilderness program for students living in Des Moines County and after about ten months of planning, training, scheduling, and fundraising, everything came together. But why wilderness?
Did you know that there are zero acres of congressionally designated Wilderness in Iowa? The Wilderness Act was passed in 1964 by Congress, creating the strictest form of protection for wild areas in the United States. The Act defines wilderness as:
“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
Pretty cool, right? In fact, studies have shown that people feel better knowing that there are vast stretches of wild untrammeled lands out there. Even if they never plan to visit them, just knowing they could gives them peace of mind and a since of connection to the land. Data from the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment indicate that protecting air quality, water quality, wildlife habitat, unique wild plant and animal species, and bequest to future generations are all consistently rated as the top five most important benefits of wilderness. Wilderness Connect, a conglomerate of wilderness study groups including the Wilderness Institute, the Arthur Carhart Training Center, and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research institute, states that Americans, whether urban or rural, also attributed a high importance to six additional benefits including the scenic beauty of wild landscapes, the knowledge that wilderness is being protected (existence value), the choice to visit wilderness at some future time (option value), the opportunity for wilderness recreation experiences, preserving nature for scientific study, and spiritual inspiration. Research is also finding a slew of personal and community health benefits, but that’s another story. The benefits are numerous, but in its most basic form Wilderness provides us a baseline to how nature functions without human meddling.
The concept of, or the connection to wilderness can be somewhat elusive for most Iowans. Probably because Iowa’s landscape is currently the most altered in the nation. Historically, prairie covered 75 to 80 percent of Iowa. Today, less than 0.1 percent of that original prairie remains, scattered across the state. Nationally, there are 767 areas totaling over 110 million acres of land declared and protected as Wilderness in the US. However, none of these areas are within Iowa. So, we needed a van.
With some help from our friends at Deery Brothers we loaded our steel horse on July 9th, 2019 and set out to explore the South San Juan Wilderness of Colorado. Six students, all of which had submitted applications that included essays describing their personal definition of wilderness, one coworker, and myself set out on an adventure together that would take 11 days, span three states, and required us to carry everything we needed for six days on our backs into the wilds. The trek focused on four pillars of learning: Environmental Science, Outdoor Skills, Stewardship, and the Study of Wilderness.
I can easily say that leading this trek has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career so far. It’s hard to describe or put into words all the emotions you go through on a long wilderness trek. There are times you feel like you’re on top of the world, other times you feel exhausted and done. It’s also hard to express how proud I am of these kids: Med-kit, Dangler, Chief, Bookworm, Goat, and Sasquatch. We all truly found ourselves through each other over the course of the trek. We laughed, smiled, and cried together. We struggled, climbed, and found strength together. We discovered and named a lake. We celebrated a birthday. We watched the stars and howled at the moon.
Each night, as part of our wilderness study, we did a reading from a collection of essays that I had packed with us. Each student took turns reading an article to the group which we then discussed. My favorite was titled “The Backcast,” an entry taken out of the book, “Paddle Whispers” by Douglas Wood.
The Backcast:
“So why… why go through it? Why even be here?
The second answer is easy. Because “here” is where the beauty is. Here is where the sunsets are. Here is where the campsites and campfires are, and the clear, deep waters, and the loons, and the pines, and the islands. And yes, the storms and the big winds and the rapids. Here is where the journey is.
But why go through it? Why do I… why do I go through it? I think because no one else can go through it for me. And because the modern city world system uses people to get work done. Important work, supposedly. That’s the whole idea. That’s why we get paid. But here – here I’m using work… to get myself done. What better work is there than that?
Or maybe… maybe it’s enough to say that I am here, as another voyageur once put it, “to iron out the wrinkles in my soul.”
And maybe it is only on the trail to nowhere-in-particular that you find the most important thing of all. Yourself.”
We packed out of the wilderness on July 17th, 2019. We had hiked an average of seven miles a day. Immersed ourselves in study of wilderness, learned valuable outdoor skills including leave no trace, and worked a total of 64 hours on the trails as part of our service learning. As we loaded our gear into the van, sprits were high. Everyone was ready for a shower and some fresh food. But as we descended the long gravel road back towards Pagosa Springs, the van grew quiet. There were several tears shed along that road as the group realized what they had just accomplished, learned, and lived.
There is something that draws me to wild places and for some reason the wild is where I feel most alive. I’ve asked myself over and over if this trek was a success. I also ask myself, what was gained by offering such a program for the youth of Des Moines County Iowa? The first question is simple. Yes… I consider this program not only a success, but I believe it has set a milestone in the environmental education efforts of Des Moines County Conservation. A program of this magnitude had never been done in the county before, and we did it brilliantly.
It’s the second part that I struggle with. It’s not such a simple answer, it’s as abstract as the aspens. It’s the wind whispering through the pines, and the purple moonlit sky over a mountain lake. The specific benefits of this program are yet to be seen. It resides in the hearts of all those who experience it. You could say we brought a little bit of the “wild” back to Iowa. We will see the benefits of this program for years to come as our students grow and live their lives. As they put to use the self-confidence they discovered in the wild. As they take responsibility for and strive to protect the “wild” places they value. As they grow to be stewards of the natural world we leave them.
I believe we will see the benefits of this program in the work they do, thanks to the work they did on this trip, on themselves, ironing the wrinkles out of their soul.
Kent Rector is the Environmental Education Coordinator at Des Moines County Conservation. He led, along with MK Gunn, our education specialist, a 4 day teen backpacking trip this summer
- Published in Backpacking, Hiking, Nature
Stewards of the Land
By MK Gunn
Durango Herald’s monthly column, “Stewards of the Land”, has been around for over ten years. That’s ten years of info on where to go on your public lands, what to look for, and how to do it responsibly.
But what is a “steward of the land”? When you look up the definition of the word “steward”, the results are underwhelming. Most definitions are something to the effect of “One who manages another’s property, finances, or other affairs”. I don’t know any stewards of the land that think of themselves this way. So then I looked up “stewardship” and found this definition at dictionary.com. “The responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving.” Nailed it.
Yes, the stewards of the land that I know are committed to the responsible overseeing and protection of our public lands because these special places are something considered worth caring for and preserving. Most of these stewards glean no financial benefit from this but they rake in a myriad of other benefits, some that are often unseen by others.
When I think of the stewards of the land that I know, they are all ages. I have had a five-year-old tell me how litter can harm wildlife. And I have had a wrinkled and grey-haired woman teach me the deep down importance of true wilderness for the human soul.
If anyone is to be successful at a skill, they need to start as young as possible. {Oak at the local three year olds that can ride a pedal bike and ski the green runs. These kids learned at such a young age that they don’t remember not knowing how to ski or ride a bike. It is ingrained in them. Kids need to understand the importance of caring for our natural treasures just as much as anyone else. And kids won’t necessarily do this on their own. We need to help them.
One of the programs I lead with San Juan Mountains Association (SJMA) is backpacking trips with teenagers. 2019 marks the seventh year. It’s one thing to go on a little hike on Saturday morning and then get lunch downtown. It’s quite another to carry everything on your back that you will need for three days, have nothing but mesh and nylon between you and a ferocious lightning storm, and have to dig a seven inch deep hole and squat over it every time you need to poop. In Terry Tempest Williams’s book Red, she writes, “The landscape that makes you vulnerable also makes you strong”. We need strong stewards of the land more now than ever.
I was delighted recently to spend four days backpacking with teens from Iowa. Former SJMA employee Kent Rector came out with a group of six teens, ages 16 – 18, and treated them to a six day trip in the South San Juan Wilderness. Rector did a fantastic job of preparing these teens. Thanks to a variety of grants, Rector was able to buy the necessary equipment and food for every one of them. They had their packs weeks in advance and were able to practice packing their load and carrying it. He also taught them how to use all the equipment and provided them with Leave No Trace (LNT) training. He connected them with Ros Wu, Natural Resource Specialist for the San Juan National Forest (SJNF), and they learned about what Wilderness with a capitol W means. There is not one acre of congressionally designated Wilderness in Iowa.
After months of preparation and anticipation, I met them at the trailhead and they followed me enthusiastically into a cloud of mosquitoes and a landscape of wildflowers, aspens, mixed conifers, and mountain views. The enthusiasm waned quickly. The day was hot and the trail was steep. Some group members had considerable trouble with the hike, but we were a team. The faster hikers were nothing but supportive. At one point, they eagerly jumped at the chance to help a struggling team member by taking a substantial amount of out of her pack and adding it to their already large burdens. It was all worth it. We made camp at a picturesque lake below the Chalk Mountains. We named the lake “Salamander Lake” due to the profusion of tiger salamanders living there. We also marveled at the masses of five inch long leaches, freshwater scuds, and finicky fish that would swim within a foot of our fishing lures and then eat something else.
We frolicked through wildflowers and learned what we could eat and, more importantly, what would kill us with just one taste – bane berry! We wondered at arborglyphs (carvings made by historic sheep herders) dating back as far as 1934. Some books tell us that an aspen tree will live only 60 to 100 years. But others say 150 years is more accurate. We believe the latter! These massive trees sported drawings of birds, cows, and a man in a sombrero as well as a variety of names and dates, many from the 30’s and 40’s.
On my last night with these young stewards of the land, I read to them “The Coyote Clan”, a chapter from the book Red. They soaked in the words about being vulnerable, being adaptable, the trickster coyote, and the reminder that no one can ever truly own this landscape besides Mother Nature. And they smiled when I declared them members of the Coyote Clan. As Williams writes, “Members of the Clan are not easily identified, but there are clues. You can see it in their eyes. They are joyful and they are fierce. They can cry louder and laugh harder than anyone on the planet. And they have an enormous range”. And, if you ask me, they are also stewards of the land.
MK Gunn is the Volunteer and Education Specialist for San Juan Mountains Association. She has dubbed herself a “steward of the land” for over ten years now but her parents have always known her to be one. Reach out to her at MK@sjma.org.
- Published in Backpacking, Hiking, Nature