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by Katheryn Crawford
This past summer, Colorado Mountain Club volunteers participated in four "backcountry ecosystem mapping weekends" co-sponsored by the Denver Patagonia store and the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project (SREP.
Club members surveyed key wildlife habitat and the impact of roads within National Forest areas. Based on the data, maps were created that will be used to make informed, ecologically sensitive recommendations to land management agencies.
Volunteers traveled in teams of two either on foot or by bicycle. They mapped and documented sixty-two roads and trails totaling over three hundred miles. One particularly disturbing discovery demonstrates how necessary it is for us to work with management agencies to steward public lands. A team discovered an ATV trail penetrating the Troublesome Wilderness Study Area (WSA) in direct violation of WSA status.
SREP is a conservation organization whose mission is to design a land management strategy that preserves and protects the ecological processes in the southern Rockies. By creating a "vision map" of core habitat areas well buffered from human disturbance and connected by wildlife migratory corridors, SREP is working towards the long-term protection and restoration of the southern Rockies ecoregion.
The effort to map and inventory Colorado's public lands for future preservation/restoration proposals is an ongoing process. Next spring, CMC members are needed to survey six Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roadless areas for potential wilderness designation. These areas are located on the western slope in Colorado's canyon country. They represent some of the wildest, most scenic places in our state and contain abundant non-motorized recreational opportunities. If you are interested in receiving more info please contact Kathryn at 303-279-3080 or Kurt Kunkle at Colorado Environmental Coalition, 303-534-7066.
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