SUMMITVILLE – Toxic mine sites can never be fully restored. In 2021, Rio Grande County and the state of Colorado will take over ownership and operation of the Summitville Mine Site, one of the worst Superfund cleanups in Colorado history. Ongoing containment operations at the site will cost Colorado $2 million annually – indefinitely. “You…
SAN LUIS VALLEY- The Medano-Zapata Ranch is bustling. Bison huddle as they wait to be led into a shoot that will allow ranchers to examine them closely. It’s the one time of year when ranchers round up their herd to pull heads for sale, administer vaccination and health checks. Bison have roamed the San Luis…
SUMMITVILLE – The Summitville mine superfund site sits high in the alpine tundra above the San Luis Valley. Blanketed in snow, the peak once swarmed by gold miners looks peaceful. A small stream cutting down the slope stains the surrounding snow a reddish orange, like a scar which never fully healed. Current plans for the…
SAN LUIS VALLEY – Hundreds of years ago before southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley was cut into farms and ranchland, bison roamed freely. Today, bison are back – brought in as part of an effort to ranch more sustainably in the drought plagued valley. “For us to go in to the future, we have to…
ALAMOSA – As the country’s second-largest potato producing region, the San Luis Valley is known for its agriculture. The growing season lasts only 90 days. Killing frosts can occur at any time. But fertile soils, low pest populations, and irrigation have made farming here worthwhile for generations. Or at least, they have until overpumping of…
CRESTONE – The San Luis Valley holds 3.1 million acres of land, and the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council advocates for keeping its ecosystem protected. “I represent the people who care about this valley and systems who don’t have a voice,” the council’s director, Christine Canaly said in a recent interview. Canaly enlists the public…
ALAMOSA – Agriculture has been the base of the San Luis Valley’s economy since before farmer Cleave Simpson can remember. “I’m the fourth generation in my family trying to eek out a living here,” Simpson said during a recent meeting with Colorado College students at his Rio Grande Water Conservation District office. Like most farmers…
GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE — On a Monday morning, stuffed inside a conference room, Fred Bunch took a moment to lean back and bugle like an elk. Then he chuckled. In 1968, Bunch hopped on an old cruiser in Alamosa, Colorado and pedaled through the San Louis Valley until he arrived at…
GREAT SAND DUNES – With encroaching light pollution, agricultural water diversion, and climate change, managers at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, the iconic park located in the San Luis Valley outside of Hooper, Colorado, have increasing reasons to monitor the land outside the park’s borders. “If we’re in the natural business,” says…
GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK – At Great Sand Dunes National Park, sand steadily rises to tower over visitors as they stare up at hikers who choose to trek to the dunes’ peaks, way above their heads. Walking among the dunes, one realizes their insignificance relative to the grandeur of nature. Visitors are attracted to…
