“The only constant in life is change.” This quote, attributed to Heraclitus, comes up frequently in conversations with San Juan Mountains Association’s staff members. As cliché as it is, it is also profoundly true for this organization. As I reflect on SJMA’s year, I realize we have rolled with many changes again. Some notable changes in 2024 include:
- Having a seasonal snow ambassador at Wolf Creek Pass to provide education and outreach on recreating responsibly; providing information on snowmobile permits; and keeping visitors informed about avalanche conditions to mitigate their risks. This upcoming winter, our snow ambassadors will rotate among Wolf Creek, Molas, Lizard Head and even Red Mountain passes, so keep an eye out for some new locations for our winter education programs.
- Adopting Segment 25.1 of the Colorado Trail, which spans more than 11 miles from Molas to Rolling Mountain Pass. We thank the volunteers and partners who helped with trail maintenance in our inaugural year.
- Adding VIS staff (and a retail outlet) at the Bureau of Land Management’s Gunnison Field Office and having seasonal staff members at the BLM’s Silverton office, and a grant from Visit Durango’s Destination Management Program helped us fund a part-time seasonal staff member at SJMA’s Durango Nature Center in Bondad. We are working diligently with our federal land management partners to try to interact with as many travelers to this region as possible on recreating responsibly to care for and protect our public lands.
- Expanding our education team with a permanent educator in Pagosa Springs who is providing our standards-based experiential programs to students in Archuleta County. Now we work with schools and many other great nonprofit partners across Montezuma, La Plata and Archuleta counties – and many other locations, too.
Some of SJMA’s activities haven’t changed that much, but we see changes in public land use. For the fourth consecutive summer, SJMA’s Forest Ambassadors rotated among two dozen trails across the San Juan and the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests as well as the Alpine Loop, providing visitors with information about trail conditions, encouraging responsible recreation and performing trail maintenance. While our region received abundant rainfall, many of our southern neighbors experienced unrelenting heat, and as a result, our Forest Ambassadors saw a surge in visitorship at high-alpine destinations throughout the San Juan Mountains. SJMA Ambassadors based at popular places, such as the Alpine Loop, Blue Lakes and Ice Lake, encountered more than 1,000 visitors per day, particularly on holiday weekends. Anecdotally, many visitors from southern states reported fleeing to the high country to escape the heat at home. By the end of the summer, our team of nine Ambassadors interacted with nearly 40,000 visitors at recreation destinations across the San Juan Mountains.
As we look ahead to 2025, more change is anticipated. The U.S. Forest Service budget has a significant shortfall, and while SJMA’s federal land management partners have worked tirelessly to address the budget constraints within their agencies, we will see impacts across the San Juan Mountains. The impacts will differ depending on which national forest you visit, but we expect all of them will have reduced capacity to carry out their programs.
Public land partners, like SJMA and others, will do our best to step up our stewardship efforts, but caring for our public lands will require all of us to do our part, packing out trash and waste, staying on trails, and being advocates for the public lands we all treasure.
Happy holidays from all of us at SJMA, and we hope to see you in the San Juans in 2025!
Stephanie Weber is SJMA’s Executive Director. Learn more at sjma.org.