Preparing students for a visit to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Professor Walt Hecox says its upcoming expansion and transition to a national park could increase tourism, a potential economic boon for the San Luis Valley. The expansion was catalyzed by the impending sale of the adjacent Baca Ranch; Congress realized that only public ownership of “the Baca” would prevent the export of San Luis Valley groundwater.

So the Nature Conservancy purchased the Baca Ranch and will transfer it to the federal government. The 107,000-acre future national park will include Kit Carson Peak so the area can be “managed along its ecological boundaries,” says Hecox, while another 54,000 acres of the former working ranch will become part of a new national wildlife refuge. (CC’s Baca Campus abuts the part of Baca Ranch to be added to the park, but is expected to be unaffected.)

At the visitors center, Park Service Geologist Andrew Valdez explains how these dunes are unique: creeks carry sand south from Baca-area mountains, but not too far — winds blow it north again from the sabkha (a minerally “cemented” sandy plain). Wind and water remain roughly in balance, forming huge, nonmigratory dunes. Downstream farmers pumping groundwater don’t affect the dunes, but pumping from Baca Ranch could have dropped the water table 50 feet in 15 years, he says.

Students express surprise that the Park Service has not officially predicted the impact of expected increases in tourism on the local economy. A student asks whether the Park Service will allow hunting. Resource Manager Fred Bunch responds, “We’re going to study the elk herd. If it gets too big, it goes to the farmers’ fields, eats alfalfa, and spreads potato blight. We are looking at several scenarios. The first oath that land managers should take is, ‘Do No Harm.’”