NPLD is September 25th, 2021: How MSI and Volunteers Encourage Environmental Stewardship
National Public Lands Day is this Saturday, September 25, 2021. This marks the 27th anniversary of the day traditionally set aside for environmental stewardship on our country’s beautiful open spaces. Celebrating the connection between communities and nature, NPLD encourages environmental stewardship and getting people out into their public lands to enjoy recreation, education, and cleanup or restoration efforts. Mountain Studies Institute is one of thousands of organizations working together to celebrate the relationship between our community and the many public lands near us—to MSI, every day is National Public Lands Day.
A stream runs through it: view from the Alpine Loop. Photo credit: Colleen Magee-Uhlik
Those of us living in or near the San Juan Mountains are extremely fortunate to have such close proximity to these open spaces. The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages a total of 8.3 million acres of public lands and 27 million acres of federal mineral estate in in the state of Colorado, the majority of which is located on the Western Slope, with 6,500 acres adjoining the town of Durango itself. There are eleven National Forests in Colorado, totaling over 13 million acres, with 1.8 million acres of the beautiful San Juan National Forest surrounding our communities. Over 36% of the state is public lands—open to all people to enjoy and cultivate. This nearly unequaled access to nature imbues us all with a responsibility to ensure that these lands stay wild and healthy, for our communities and those who come after us.
Mountain Studies Institute was founded nearly twenty years ago on the basis of cultivating the connection between public lands and communities. We have a long history of environmental stewardship, of fostering the area’s relationship with science people can use, and work in diverse aspects of the region’s many ecosystems. The San Juan National Forest alone is home to iconic landscapes of mountain peaks, alpine meadows, valuable wetlands, and ancient forests. These special places are under threat due to sustained extreme drought, which is heightening the risk of wildfire, erosion, and loss of fish and wildlife, all magnified by increased recreation pressure due to the pandemic. Our communities are equally impacted, including economically in agriculture, tourism, and recreation. MSI is involved in environmental stewardship in key aspects of each ecosystem—forest, wetlands, and watersheds—always striving to bring each part of the landscape closer to our communities and work together to identify sustainable solutions and increase resilience.
MSI researchers studying the effects of climate change as part of the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA), on the Peace Summit near the Uncompahgre Mountain Range. Photo generously donated for use by Michael Remke Photography (www.mycoremke.com).
Students study tree rings to learn about fire ecology. Photo credit: Ellie Schwartz
Strengthening the health of our forests. MSI brings together countless volunteers through over 10 collaboratives and partnerships designed to address critical questions, concerns, and planning about the forested landscape and connected watersheds. We then help address those questions through scientific research that enhances understanding and informs decision-making. These partnerships, including the Animas River Community Forum, the San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership, and the 2-3-2 Cohesive Strategy, have helped secure the Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative for SW Colorado, the Rio Chama Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), and the SW Colorado CFLRP, which are poised to bring in over $70 million in support of forest work over the next ten years. MSI is proud of our collaboration with stewards of public lands that will help build resilience into the next decade of shared stewardship in our region.
Sampling a Seep on Cement Creek (then-MSI intern Mitch Dorsk). Photo by Anthony Culpepper
Monitoring the quality of our waterways. SW Colorado communities depend on waters originated in the San Juan Mountains for drinking water sources, irrigation for crops and livestock, recreation opportunities, ecological significance, and spiritual connection. MSI furthers scientific understanding of the status, threats to, and solutions for water quality and aquatic life in the San Juans and disseminates up-to-date critical findings to community members, land managers, and decision makers. We accomplish this through collaborative engagement, research, monitoring, and data collection followed by innovative and clear communication to share the results. Volunteer citizen scientists are often called upon to help collect data from rivers, streams, seeps and springs to augment our team’s regular, systematized monitoring activity. MSI’s leadership in watershed collaboratives, such as the Upper San Juan Watershed Enhancement Partnership, serves to engage the public and stakeholders directly into watershed assessment, analysis and interpretation of findings, and prioritization of cooperative projects to benefit the diverse users and needs of the watershed.
Restoring our ancient wetlands: Fens in the San Juan Mountains have accumulated up to three meters of peat and most are thousands of years old. These wetlands store carbon, filter pollutants from water, and support biodiversity, including rare species. Fens face threats from the development of mountain watersheds and from climate change. Both can alter the amount of water that reaches the fen and can cause the wetland to dry out, which affects the fen’s ability to store carbon as peat. MSI has been working to restore wetlands and watershed health by engaging volunteers in fen restoration and revegetation.
Environment & Climate Institute high school students celebrate their stewardship activity on Ophir Fen, 2020. Photo by MSI Staff.
Our stewardship of Ophir Fen dates back to 2008, with the goal of restoring the hydrologic and ecological function of the fen from historical mining and other disturbances. Each year, we work to engage different groups of volunteers in fen restoration, including college students, federal lands interns, local rotary clubs, and the general public. With each new vegetative plot, we work to expand the overall health of the ecosystem as well as each person’s individual stewardship of the land. This year, MSI is heading up to Ophir Fen on Saturday to work with the Fort Lewis College Environmental Center to work on erosion control and vegetation restoration, planting bog birch that were grown from seed collected in the San Juan mountains at the United States Forest Service facility in Nebraska.
A sweeping view of the San Juans as seen from the top of Engineer Mountain. Photo credit: Colleen Magee-Uhlik
MSI is grateful to the hundreds of volunteers and partners we work with every year out of love and respect for our public lands. National Public Lands Day is for everyone, and we invite you to get involved! We all carry a responsibility to steward and care for the land around us, to ensure that it continues to offer us and our children the benefits we all enjoy. Read below for five easy ways to celebrate National Public Lands Day 2021!
Get outside! Enjoy some fresh air and share a pic of your favorite outdoor activity on social media. Make sure you tag us @mountainstudiesinstitute and use the hashtag #NPLD to join the 2021 celebration!
Visit a national park for free! There are more than 400 sites across the US waiting to be explored every day, such as the beautiful Mesa Verde National Park near Durango. Why not take advantage of a fee free day for NPLD 2021 and visit one near you?
Take part in a volunteer work project! Visit this link to find more information on MSI's NPLD celebration, upcoming events, and ongoing citizen science efforts.
Make sure everyone can continue to enjoy the outdoors by #RecreatingResponsibly! On your next outdoor adventure, pick up an extra piece of litter to pack out and leave our public lands better than you found it.
Donate to an environmental stewardship organization near you! MSI is proud to collaborate with the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service to protect public lands in La Plata and San Juan County. We are grateful to all organizations doing amazing work promoting conservation of America's beautiful natural resources.
Fall foliage begins to creep across the San Juan Mountains near Silverton. Photo credit: Colleen Magee-Uhlik
