Summer Research for the 2011-12 Rockies Project has begun!

This year’s 5 student researchers are already well under way in their investigation of this year’s project topic- The Colorado River: Agenda for Use, Restoration and Sustainability as if the Next Generation Counts. Our researchers draw experience from their diverse educational background with two environmental policy majors, an environmental science major, a physics major and a public health major.  The summer research got off to a fast start at CU’s Natural Resources Law Center Summer Conference in Boulder titled: Navigating the Future of the Colorado River. With a plethora of experts and advocates for the Colorado River Basin present, project members were introduced to the key issues and conflicts of the Basin.

We are now preparing for our summer research trip down the Colorado River from high in the Rockies down through the Southwest.  Stops along the route will include:

-Glenwood Springs, CO

-Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

-Moab, UT

-Canyonlands NP

-Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam

-Grand Canyon NP

-Las Vegas and Boulder City, NV

-Imperial Valley of California

-Yuma, AZ

-The Navajo Indian Reservation

Our researchers will be meeting with experts on the Basin while also viewing the environmental and socioeconomic aspects of the basin that has led National Geographic to call the Colorado River a “Lifeline for an Arid Land”.  Project members will be sending updates throughout the course of the trip including uploading photos to our State of the Rockies website, as well as uploading videos taken along the river. Keep an eye out for updates after July 10th when the trip begins.