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Outdoor Classrooms---Technical Tours
All technical tours took place on Wednesday, July 26 and gave exposure to interesting and informative conservation work happening in the area.
High altitude reclamation and restoration
This half-day tour visited the Climax Mine site at the crest of Fremont Pass, elevation 11,318 feet. The mine has reclamation and restoration activities in various stages of implementation. They are using grass and tree planting to enhance the visual aesthetics of the area, restoring the original channel of the Upper Arkansas River and completing some wetland restoration activities. All of this is being implemented under the shadow of three 14,000 foot peaks.
Forest health and defensible space
On this tour, agencies responsible for assessing and managing forest resources in the watershed around Dillon Reservoir will share the issues they are addressing in the area. The U.S. Forest Service is dealing with the effects of insect and disease damage to the public lands forest resources. The Colorado State Forest Service and Summit County are working with the effects of these same issues on private lands. Management decisions related to mitigating the effects of forest health issues and creating defensible space in and around development in the area are a high priority given the recent wildfire damage that has occurred in the West.
Water - The Life Blood of the West #2
This tour traveled to Green Mountain Reservoir and visited a ranch north of Silverthorne, where participants saw mountain meadow flood irrigation and Water Solutions of Colorado, a demonstration on the use of PAM (polyacrylimide) to help seal irrigation ditches and canals that offers a low cost alternative to solving irrigation efficiency in flood irrigation systems. At Green Mt. Reservoir, participants heard about how the facility is operated by the Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. The final stop was to a scenic view from the top of Ute Pass.
Straight Creek sediment control and mitigation project
This tour traveled up to Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 to see work undertaken by the Colorado Department of Transportation as part of their Sediment Control Action Plan. This plan was developed as a strategy for addressing sediment loading from I-70 in the Straight Creek corridor. The Straight Creek watershed is of particular interest because construction and operation of I-70 through this area created unique circumstances associated with high traffic volumes, steep slopes and highway grades, extreme winter weather conditions, winter maintenance operations (including traction sanding), and other characteristics that have contributed to accelerated sediment loading within an otherwise pristine mountain environment. The construction and operation of I-70 through the Straight Creek watershed has essentially formed a new landscape that has forever altered the natural environment.
The effects of snow-making, grading, and timber harvest on stream morphology in the
White River National Forest, Colorado
This tour took place right at Keystone and looked at a project being conducted by the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado State University to address impacts of ski slope development on stream stability. The White River National Forest Service is responsible for managing and protecting the ecological integrity of many streams in some of the major ski resorts in Colorado. This project is evaluating the combined effects that timber harvesting, snow-making, grading, and road construction have to increase stream flows. The project assesses the effects of these four activities on stream channel stability. Tour participants visited sites that show the impacts of these activities and the data collected that will help provide guidelines for planning and development of ski areas on public lands.
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