The State of the Rockies Project 2013-14

Large Landscape Conservation in the Rockies: Exploring New Conservation Paradigms for the 21st Century

Establishing a New Rockies Project Approach to Large Landscapes

Building upon two years of focus on a very large conservation area in the Rockies: the Colorado River Basin, we return during 2013-14 to an analysis of the eight state region’s land and environment.  We will apply new techniques of “creative conservation” and “large landscape conservation” to provide comprehensive insight into innovative conservation actions and tools in the region.  Using tabular and spatial techniques, a detailed inventory of Rockies’ conservation efforts/initiatives will be created. To highlight these important transformations in the conservation arena and the efforts already underway to further conservation in the Rockies, we will address the topic through a three-pronged approach that includes investigation on a regional scale, on a case-specific basis, and the incorporation of social and visual media through a field expedition to raise awareness of the issues surrounding conservation in the Rockies.

2013 Summer Student Research

We once again hired a group of Colorado College students to conduct the Project's research throughout the summer. In addition to time spent on campus investigating issues, calling experts, and working with GIS software, the team also spent time in the field meeting conservation professionals to discuss, and see firsthand, the important work underway throughout the region. Fieldwork included trips to the Sangre de Cristo mountains of Southern Colorado, a two week trip to the Northern Rockies including Wyoming and Montana, and a visit to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge.

Rockies Project Spine of the Rockies Expedition

Developping off of two succesful field expeditions throughout the Colorado River Basin in 2011 and 2012, we assembled a new expedition team for the summer of 2013 to investigate the Project's focus of Large Landscape Conservation. By travelling to a number of key large landscape conservation areas and leveraging the region’s strong ties to outdoor recreation, we hope to further awareness of these conservation efforts through traditional and emerging media. Areas of focus for this summer’s field expedition work included: Thompson Divide in Colorado, the Sangre de Cristo Conservation Area in Colorado, the Greater Yellowstone region in Wyoming and Montana, the Crown of the Continent in Montana and Alberta, and the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. Our expedition team split their efforts between capturing the natural beauty of these areas through extended time in the backcountry and interviewing key stakeholders involved in conservation work to highlight the human element of the region’s conservation work. Through blogs, photography, and the production of a video series, we seek to engage a greater audience in the discussion of Large Landscape Conservation even as we contribute to “citizen science” data for regions explored. The expedition will utilize the online database iNaturalist to catalog wildlife observations in order to further the breadth and scope of scientific data in these areas of key conservation importance. To view the Rockies Project’s iNaturalist observations click here.

To view our full Rockies' Expeditions site, click here.