Brings Westerners Together
A long, winding line quickly overwhelmed the Colorado College Carnivore Club grill as ranchers, environmentalists, and CC community members gathered on Armstrong Quad on a gorgeous spring evening. But the wait — for natural beef products raised and sold by ranchers in the crowd — gave hungry diners a chance to continue their State of the Rockies discussions on ranching.
One woman asked Connie Hatfield of Country Natural Beef about her family’s ranching practices and how buffalo and cattle raising affects grasslands. Another raved about the views of environmentalist panelist Dan Dagget. Sibling musicians Iain Hyde ’06 and Joanna Hyde ’09 completed the idyllic scene with traditional bluegrass music.
It was just one way that CC’s third State of the Rockies Conference brought people together and sparked dialogue on critical issues affecting the eight-state Rockies region.
That State of the Rockies synergy was evident again when acclaimed Rocky Mountain photographer John Fielder depicted “Conservation in Action: Success Stories” in what Professor Walt Hecox, State of the Rockies Project faculty director, called “a visually stunning climax that made it clear to students that hard, creative work can make a difference in the Rockies.”
This year’s conference, April 10-13, drew 2,800 attendees eager to learn about the topics covered by the 2006 State of the Rockies Report Card, released at the conference. The 130-page Report Card features the research of Program Coordinator Bryan Hurlbutt ’04 and Research Manager Caitlin O’Brady ’05; six CC undergraduate researchers who spent the summer of 2005 on the project; plus several guest contributors. Topics include:
- A Common Western Voice: Can the Rockies Be Heard in Washington, D.C.?
- Ranching in the Rockies: Threats and Signs of Hope
- Conservation Easements: Preserving Private Land in the Rockies
- New Resource Management: Innovative Approaches in the Rockies
- Preserving Biodiversity: Mapping Habitat Threat in the Rockies
- Climate Change: Modeling a Warmer Rockies and Assessing the Implications
- Environmental Justice: Income, Race, Ethnicity, and Toxic Pollution in the Rockies Metro Areas
To read the 2006 State of the Rockies Report Card, order a hard-copy version, or read news stories about the report and conference, visit www.ColoradoCollege.edu/StateoftheRockies/.