“Linking Communities, Researchers and Practitioners”
The Mountain Studies Institute (MSI), based in Silverton, Colorado, USA, held its first “State of the San Juans” Conference on 24–26 September 2004, with the theme “San Juan Mountains Science and Research: Linking Communities, Researchers and Practitioners.” Approximately 130 participants learned about ongoing research in the San Juan Mountains and about current natural, economic, and social trends in the region.
A highlight of the first day was an examination by representatives of 6 regional watershed groups—meeting together for the first time—of strategies for watershed restoration and protection that have been tried and found to be most successful. Each of the 6 watersheds—the Animas River, the San Miguel River, the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, Willow Creek (a tributary of the upper Rio Grande), the Dolores River, and the Uncompahgre River—have headwaters in the San Juan Mountains and have seen extensive degradation during a century of hard rock mining that came to an end within the last 20 years. Issues in each watershed are distinctive in detail, but all of these volunteer groups have common needs for both historic and current water quality data, and have encountered challenging problems in their restoration and remediation efforts. These groups are relatively young (the oldest having been formed in 1994), but with the help of government land managing agencies, they have all made progress toward goals of restoring their watersheds to an accessible level of land and water quality.
The power of collaboration was very much in evidence during a session in which several natural resource protection partnerships discussed their work. The Red Mountain Task Force, working with the Trust for Public Lands, has obtained federal land and water conservation funds with which they have purchased old mine sites and over 7000 acres (2835 ha) of private land for protection in the Red Mountain Mining District. The San Juan Fen Partnership, collaborating between 3 local governments, the US Forest Service, Telluride Ski Company, and MSI, continues the critical work of monitoring and studying ancient fens, and protecting some of these from degradation due to alpine ski area expansion. Operating very informally, the Ponderosa Pine Partnership was organized to address a critical need to better manage an overgrown ponderosa pine forest at the west end of the San Juan Mountains. Organized in 1993, it has demonstrated that collaboration between scientists, local governments, local loggers, and local environmental groups is an essential ingredient of an integrated approach to community forestry. The Partnership emphasizes that collaboration means working out details of a project together, and jointly sharing responsibility.
Sixteen papers were presented in a poster session late on the first day of the conference. Although this session had no stated theme, over half the posters dealt with water quality in the headwaters of several watersheds within the San Juan Mountains. Such emphasis is to be expected, because restoration of these mining-affected watercourses is an ongoing activity, and monitoring, methods of restoration and remediation, and evaluation of results continue to be important.
Two important keynote talks began the second day of the conference. Ken Salazar, Attorney General of the State of Colorado, spoke eloquently about the many serious water issues facing the Colorado Rocky Mountains region as a consequence of continuing development and increasing demand for consumptive uses of water. Because the San Juan Mountains harbor headwaters of a significant number of tributaries of the major rivers emanating from Colorado, these issues are paramount for future sustainability of San Juan Mountain communities. Dr William Baker, University of Wyoming, delivered the scientific keynote address on “Science in the San Juans.” He has several active research projects ongoing in the San Juans, generally examining vegetative changes in response to natural events such as floods and fires, as well as human-induced changes from, for example, grazing. His observations provided a prescient introduction to the 26 oral presentations that followed. These were divided into 2 sessions, one on “Water quality, watersheds and the mining legacy of the San Juan Mountains,” and the other on “The San Juan Mountains system: History, ecology and land management.”
The water quality session continued some of the themes evident in the posters, namely continuing assessment of the quality of San Juan Mountains headwaters. An obvious question important to reclamation efforts is: What was the water quality before mining began in the late 1800s? Studies of ferricrete deposits (clast-abundant, iron-oxyhydroxide-cemented surficial deposits), bog iron deposits, and fens are important for understanding natural processes related to acid rock drainage. US Geological Survey scientists showed from radiocarbon dating of ferricrete-encased wood that natural acid drainage existed at least 9000 years ago, as well as during and after mining. This knowledge is important to those carrying out stream restorations and mine site remediations, because it helps to define pre-mining stream conditions.
In the session on the San Juan Mountain system, presentations ranged from an attempt to define the mountain system itself, to documentation of natural change by rephotography, discussion of formation of iron bogs and fens, and examination of issues related to management of Congressionally designated Wildernesses in the San Juans. The economic vitality and quality of life in small mountain communities formerly dependent on mining were subjects analyzed in 2 final presentations.
In summary, this conference highlighted the extensive amount of research being conducted on the condition of the area's streams, and on the efforts being expended to restore them to pre-mining quality. It was productive to have government and academic researchers interacting with members of stakeholder groups and interested local volunteers. One of MSI's important objectives is to continue to make such opportunities possible. The Institute will organize another “State of the San Juans” Conference in 2006.
The Mountain Studies Institute (MSI)
MSI is an independent, non-advocacy, not-for-profit 501(c)3 mountain research and education institution and high-altitude field station established in 2002 in Silverton, Colorado (9318 ft/2840 m). It serves as a center of knowledge in mountain research and education in the San Juan Mountains and, by extension, in mountain ranges around the world. The Institute supports students, educators, researchers, land and environmental managers, elected officials, and the public within and beyond the region. It facilitates academic study, field research, data collection and dissemination, experiential learning, and provides facilities and logistical support. As an important part of this mission, MSI is developing an online database that will contain a comprehensive set of water and climate data, demographic data, GIS data, and a complete bibliography of published research focused on any aspect of the San Juan Mountains area. Baseline data sets are being incorporated. An index of researchers and their projects in the San Juan Mountains is under development. The database can be examined at the Mountain Studies Institute web site. The Institute has formal collaborative relationships with Fort Lewis College, the US Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management, and the Silverton, Colorado, community. MSI is using research and education as a sustainable economic development model for mountain communities.
