By Meghann Burke

Although it has been a late start to winter, snowflakes have finally started flying across the San Juan Mountains, and San Juan Mountains Association’s winter stewardship and education programs have launched as well. No hibernation for the SJMA crew.

SJMA has an array of educational opportunities and activities for everyone in the family this winter. In partnership with the Durango Nordic Center, we kicked off our winter events with the first Full Moon Howler of the season on December 26th. Under the radiant Wolf moon, SJMA staff and volunteers led 60 people on an interpretive snowshoe hike for an evening of intriguing facts, amazing views and hot chocolate by the fire pit. Do not worry if you missed that one. The Nordic Center has two more Full Moon Howler events planned for Jan. 24 and Feb. 24, and SJMA will, once again, be leading the interpretive snowshoe hikes.

As we wrapped up our Christmas trees for the Conservation fundraiser, our stewardship team shifted gears and started prepping for our Snow Ambassador season. Once again you will find the SJMA mobile base camp stationed at the Andrews Lake winter parking area. Colin Courtney serves as our Molas Snow Ambassador this season, and he is ready to answer your questions, share information on winter Leave-No-Trace ethics, and provide you with his knowledge of the area. He may even have some steamy hot chocolate to share. Be sure to drop in and say “hi” over the next few months.

We are also excited to announce we have expanded our Snow Ambassador program to Wolf Creek Pass. Olivia Maclean serves as our inaugural Wolf Creek Snow Ambassador. You might run into her at the Lobo trailhead if you’re skiing or sledding. A snowmobile enthusiast? Olivia will be stationed at the pass with the latest snow and avalanche conditions around the area, as well as important safety information and forest updates. Keep an eye out for her in the backcountry or at the trailheads this season.

Meanwhile, SJMA’s education team is leading experiential field trips with youths from all over the region. The education team guides young snow enthusiasts on snowshoe journeys around the Haviland Lake and other areas, spreading their knowledge of the habits of wildlife during the winter months and the importance of snow to life in our region.

When they are not out with the students, our education team and volunteer coordinator are immersed in planning for our upcoming Snow Science Socials at Andrews Lake. Starting Saturday, Jan. 13, SJMA, in partnership with Mountain Studies Institute, is bringing back our popular educational snow adventure. Starting from the Andrews lake base camp, join us for a fun half day learning about snowpack and wildlife winter habits in the San Juan Mountains. Then, stay and join us for some riveting conversations and warm beverages around the fire pit.

There is no down season at SJMA. Year round, there is an opportunity to share knowledge, ignite passion and instill respect for our public lands. We also believe winter is a time to reflect, renew and take the chance to take a breather, stop and listen to the silence of the snow.

Meg is the Stewardship Program Manager at San Juan Mountains Association and is looking forward to some winter adventures and a successful winter field season.

By Myste French

This morning, work begins where I made camp. I arrived after dark last night and didn’t notice the trash strewn about the campsite. I remove all litter from the area and burn trash from the fire ring, then distribute the ashes in the forest before moving on to my real work site for the day.

When I arrive at the Blue Lakes Trailhead, the parking lot is packed and the sun hasn’t risen yet. I open up the San Juan Mountains Association tent and set out maps and brochures. For the next two hours I’ll staff the tent, talking with hikers about their plans and how we can support them in Leaving No Trace. We discuss preparedness, trail etiquette, wildlife safety and fire regulations.

I am in my fifth month as a Forest Ambassador with SJMA. Eleven of us worked for the interpretive partner of the San Juan and Uncompahgre National Forests – this season. Together we covered 40 trails across six million acres of Public Lands, an area roughly the size of the state of New Hampshire.

Today 31 backpackers are planning to spend the night in the Blue Lakes Basin. I ask them about their plans for human waste management. So much surface defecation happens at this site that E. coli bacteria is starting to infect the water. I distribute PACT Lite cat-hole kits, and Waste And Gelling bags to mitigate overnight waste impacts.

After the traffic in the parking lot slows, I hike the trail, making frequent stops. There are hunters with questions about game sightings and the trail needs attention. This is my seventh weekend at Blue Lakes this season. Each time I walk the trail I note the work our team has done: fallen logs cut and hauled off the trail, fresh trail drains installed, and new vegetation growing where a social trail was closed only two months ago.

I’ve conversed with 161 hikers in the time it takes to reach Lower Blue Lake, tipping the total number of Forest Ambassadors’ engagements with recreationists at Blue Lakes over 6,000 and more than 26,000 people throughout our service area for the summer. Enjoying a moment of solitude and appreciating the cerulean beauty of the lake, I head into the nearby camping area where 13 campsites and two illicit fire rings must be cleaned up and naturalized.

Back on the trail, a conversation begins with a group of hikers. I tell them of the impacts we are seeing from social media. A few weeks ago we dismantled an abandoned campsite which contained only photo-shoot props. I share with the group my favorite message: we need to take Leave No Trace ethics one step further as we consider our online footprint and attempt to Leave No Digital Trace.

Looking up, I realize that other hikers have stopped to listen. I count, and there are 18 of us gathered. We have a discussion about wilderness regulations (groups must be fewer than 15 people) and then split into smaller groups to reduce our impact before heading back down the trail.

Walking through the silent wilderness, I contemplate those who’ve walked before me, both literally and metaphorically. The original Stewards of these Lands were the ancestral Ute and Pueblo peoples. The Ute people consider the trails to be an integral part of their Creation Story. Not only the land, but the trails themselves are sacred – as is the work of caring for the land. In my time as a Forest Ambassador I have learned that being a Steward of the Land is a reciprocal relationship. When we take care of the land, the land most certainly takes care of us.

Myste French, MSW, is nearing the end of her first season as a Forest Ambassador with SJMA, she resides in Silverton and in addition to time spent outdoors, Myste is also an Artist Member of the Silverton Powerhouse Collective and the Market Manager for Silverton Farmer’s Market.

By Jake Anderson, SJMA Wilderness Crew Member

Dawn breaks. Squinting and rolling awake, I rise quickly. A coyote yowls, calling out to its pack, sounding like a rooster to my ears. The backcountry morning bites at me as I crawl out of my bag and begin to ready myself for the day ahead. Popping my head out from my tent, I’m greeted with a glowing view of the surrounding forest. The sun casts a radiant blanket over the trees, memorializing a kingdom of dead giants and nurturing the inconspicuous saplings aspiring to replace them. It pours out into the meadow from which I gaze, gradually dispelling the shadow. It reaches and warms me as I muse.

I’ve had this sort of pleasant subalpine morning many times; its vibrancy is familiar to many, no doubt. But this morning, my achy back reminds me, I’m not at leisure – there’s a job to do. It was a push just to get to this campsite, and there are untold trees down on the trail ahead. If anyone is going to enjoy moving freely up and down this trail, it’ll be in the wake of my crew. Feeling purposeful, I grab my saw.

Our crew of four SJMA Wilderness Stewards and two USFS Forest Protection Officers is dedicated to the task of opening trails in the Rio Grande NF, working our butts off in the face of some daunting challenges. To date this year, we have covered 212 miles, done 340 ft of tread work, brushed 4,912 feet of trail, removed a whopping 2,086 trees, and met 194 people along the way.

The logs we move, using only hand saws and levers, axes, wedges, and good communication, are sometimes astounding. The difference we make is really tangible; it’s very affirming. I’ve also witnessed firsthand the enormity of what we are undertaking, trying to keep trails open amid the dead and dying trees and the inevitability of gravity. Despite the impressive numbers, there’s a lot left to be done. More than once this summer we have had to leave sections of trail uncleared, simply because we lack the labor force to finish the job. And there’s always another project waiting in the wings – the trees keep falling. Beetle kill, wildfire, windstorms and washouts have all amounted to more complex situations on trail and at camp in the backcountry.

Besides just having to climb over and around more trees, visitors to our wild places these days have to be more aware of dangers like fire and falling trees, an unfortunate fact of our evolving world.

Being the boots on the ground, cutting trail, I see a lot of kerf and only an occasional passerby (usually elk, sometimes human). I have plenty of time to think about the metaphor in my work, about how unignorable a tree in the way is, then how easily the fresh cuts that mark its removal go unnoticed. The logs pile high, trailside.

Ed Abbey once said, “The idea of wilderness needs no defense, Only more defenders.” You can help! You don’t need a crosscut saw to make an impact. Become an SJMA member, donate, or volunteer by visiting: https://sjma.org/get-involved/

Nearly three years ago, in October 2020, Governor Jared Polis signed executive Order B 2020-008 creating the Colorado Outdoor Regional Partnerships Initiative (RPI). The goals of the RPI are pretty straightforward:

1. Ensure that Colorado’s land, water, and wildlife thrive while also providing equitable and safe access to quality outdoor recreation experiences;
2. Convene representatives from different outdoor interests, races, cultures, ages, and sectors through Regional Partnerships to identify regional priorities and strategies;
3. Collaborate to develop a state-level vision and plan for conservation and recreation that will inform future investments to conserve Colorado’s landscapes, rivers, wildlife, sensitive habitats, and recreational opportunities.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has partnered with Great Outdoor Colorado (GOCO) to establish a statewide grant program to provide funding to establish regional collaborations and provide support for their ongoing success. Prior to the most recent grant cycle, more than $1.5 million had been awarded to 15 collaborations across primarily the Western half of Colorado – with a couple of gaping holes, including one in our corner of the state.

In the latest grant cycle this spring, after consulting with our federal, state, and local partners, along with other key stakeholders, San Juan Mountains Association (SJMA) submitted an application to launch a research and planning process for an RPI in Southwest Colorado. CPW notified SJMA in late June that we were awarded funds to create the new Southwest Colorado Conservation Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (SCCORR).

There is no shortage of collaborations and initiatives occurring in Southwest Colorado right now. There are two landscape-scale forest health initiatives underway through the Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative (RMRI) and the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), along with the Animas Headwater Ecological Action Division (AHEAD), a Recreation Strategy in the San Juan National Forest’s Columbine District and other efforts to care for the water, wildlife, and public lands that have drawn so many people to call this place home.

For more than 35 years, SJMA has played an integral role providing education and outreach and encouraging responsible recreation across public lands throughout Southwest Colorado, and now through SCCORR, we seek to bring a very diverse group of stakeholders together to share information, address concerns, and prioritize a sustainable vision for conservation and outdoor recreation in our region We are starting out with a planning and research grant, and as such, SCCORR’s initial steps include:

• Convening a diverse suite of stakeholders to convey and share regional priorities, issues and ongoing conservation and recreation efforts.
• Determining the appropriate scale and geography for the regional partnership’s focus.
• Engaging a facilitator to develop a process for ensuring that the diverse conservation and recreation interests have ongoing input on efforts underway in this region and to the development of the Statewide Conservation and Recreation Plan.
• Developing a complete inventory of the current initiatives and collaborations currently in process throughout Southwest Colorado, identifying overarching goals and strategies.
• Mapping existing data on recreation use, wildlife habitats and other information that will ultimately provide critical input into the current array of initiatives and collaborations.

The ultimate goal is to work toward priority areas for long-term planning that both protects our wildlife and enhances this area’s recreation economy sustainably. Equally important, having a CPW-supported regional partnership in Southwest Colorado provides us with a communication channel to those who are working on the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) update for 2024-2028. As this process progresses, this regional partnership will ensure that the people and interest groups of Southwest Colorado have an opportunity to provide input on statewide level planning as well as on initiatives developing in the region.

We recognize that there is a chorus of different voices when it comes to conservation and outdoor recreation; and we firmly believe there is a need to collectively share our priorities and understand the very real constraints facing land use management. Through SCCORR, we plan to provide Southwest Colorado communities with a chance to better understand current and future issues from both sides of the table, and to craft a balanced future trajectory to sustain the quality of life in this region. I encourage you to engage and follow along as SCORR gets started. Contact me at sweber@sjma.org.

By Mike Wight, Associate Director

As the rivers continue to carry our snowmelt downstream, and the high country begins to open up, I’m finally getting a second to reflect on a busy couple of months hiring, training, and preparing for SJMA’s stewardship programs. This year represents continued growth and expansion of our programs, coupled with increased training and capacity for field programs with both seasonal staff and volunteers!

We hope you caught last month’s update on volunteer opportunities, written by Marly Saunders, SJMA’s Volunteer Coordinator, who has been busy training and connecting with volunteers to promote stewardship at Chicago Basin, Ice Lakes, Blue Lakes, naturalist interpretive events, and solitude monitoring in the Weminuche Wilderness. If you haven’t already, check out sjma.org/events to view the array of events on our calendar and to sign up to volunteer!

In April, we brought on Meg Burke, our two year alumni Forest Ambassador, as our Stewardship Program Manager. She wasted no time interviewing and selecting a rocking team of ten Forest Ambassadors, and four Wilderness Stewardship Crew Members. We kicked off a two week training for seasonal staff on May 15th, providing CPR, Wilderness First Aid, a session from the Leave No Trace traveling team, and a multitude of guest speakers from the San Juan National Forest (thank you!) to cover topics including recreation management, wildfire safety, public  engagement, trail maintenance, and area collaboratives Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative and the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. Special thanks to Regina Whiteskunk who spent a few hours with our team discussing the cultural history and context of the region!

On May 30th, our Wilderness Stewardship Crew began clearing trails on the east side of the Weminuche in collaboration with Rio Grande National Forest staff- covering 15 miles of trail and clearing 132 logs in their first three days! On June 2nd, our North and South teams of Forest Ambassadors began covering area trails and events across the San Juans. Our crew will rotate between more than 35 trails and trailheads providing public education and information on Leave No Trace, wildfire safety, responsible recreation, and forest restoration projects, while completing trail maintenance and clean up activities. SJMA’s “southern team” will rotate between low-country trails such as Purgatory Flats, Chicken Creek, Boggy Draw, Pine River, Vallecito, Junction Creek and as the snow melts, they’ll be stationed at Ice Lakes, Andrews Lake, Cross Mountain, Navajo Lake, Highland Mary Lakes, and more. Thanks to support from the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forest, we’ve expanded SJMA’s Forest Ambassadors on the northern side of the San Juans. Not only will they be stationed at Blue Lakes, but they will also be at access points to Sneffels, Uncompahgre, and Lizard Head Wilderness areas, the forks of the Cimarrons, and Woods Lake, as well as Silverton area trails and Animas Forks. If you’d like to know more about what our Forest Ambassadors are doing, just ask them when you see them, or better yet, sign up for SJMA’s June 13th or 14th volunteer ambassador trainings for Ice Lakes, Blue Lakes or an upcoming fire ring clean-up project in the Cimarons on June 23d and 24th in partnership with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and the Ouray Ranger District (sjma.org/events). Wherever you recreate this season, please remember to follow Leave No Trace Principles, and drown any campfires, perhaps kindly reminding others to do so as well. Together, we can protect our beloved San Juan region for future generations!

By Mike Wight

Ah, winter…  As the white stuff piles up around us this year, I’m excited to get out in the mountains – to sled, ski, and explore the backcountry. When white-capped, the San Juans are majestic, but can also be dangerous. Tuning in to local avalanche conditions and following some basic safety precautions can make the difference between a day of winter fun and an avoidable accident.  

This winter, all of us at San Juan Mountains Association (SJMA) are excited to kick off our second winter season at Andrews Lake and welcome our new Snow Ambassador, Hannah Green, who is stationed at our Mobile Basecamp at the Andrews Lake winter parking area on Molas Pass. We’ll be stationed in the area every Friday through Monday until the end of March to provide information to visitors using this popular spot for winter recreation. 

Hannah brings great experience to this position as she served as a SJMA Forest Ambassador in 2021, volunteers for San Juan County Search and Rescue, and holds an Recreation Avalanche Training level 2 certification. Stop in to say hi this year when you are in the area, grab a hot drink, and check in on what’s happening with the snowpack on the daily. Hannah will be primarily based at the Andrews parking area, but roving area trails and trailheads to interact with both motorized and non motorized visitors, to share information on winter Leave No Trace, Wilderness boundaries, groomed snowmobile trails, and more. This position represents a partnership between SJMA, CDOT, and the San Juan National Forest with a purpose of promoting safe and responsible use of our shared resources. Thank you to San Juan Sledders Ken Hilfiker for developing a detailed map of the Andrews Lake area and nearby motorized use trails for us to share this year!  

In addition, SJMA and Mountain Studies Institute are excited to offer our Snow Science and Social interpretive snowshoe hikes once again this year. Starting January 14th, these free events will be offered every other weekend through mid March. Free to the public, these events offer a combination of snow education, travel awareness, winter ecology and fun! Finish with a hot beverage around a fire, check out our new Mobile Basecamp and meet our team!  Registration is required, and details can be found at https://sjma.org/events/. Snowshoes can be provided for those that need them. 

If you don’t have an opportunity to swing by the Mobile Basecamp or attend one of our winter events, remember to be safe out there, regardless of your activity.  

A few tips for winter safety:  Plan ahead and Prepare!   

• Check the avalanche forecast and local conditions at https://avalanche.state.co.us/ .
• Let someone know your plan for the day, including an exact location and time of return. Check in with them when you are back.  
• Carry the right equipment for any situation- extra layers, food and water, first aid kit, emergency gear repair, wag bags, and a communication device.   
• Stay off slopes above 30 degrees, and areas with steeper slopes above.
• Educate yourself! Consider an avalanche awareness course, such as those offered by our local Friends of the San Juans. 
• Remember- just because someone else went there, doesn’t mean it’s safe!

Mike Wight is SJMA’s Associate Director.