Stewards of the forest Summer fun with SJMA

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Donna Steward

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Donna Steward

This summer the San Juan Mountains Association will continue our established partnerships with the San Juan National Forest, BLM Tres Rios and BLM Canyons of the Ancients National Monument as well as explore new ones in the Conservation Education program. This will be our third year offering the Forests to Faucets: My Water Comes from the San Juan Mountains teacher workshop, taking place June 26 – 27th, 2014. This workshop is a beautiful partnership between SJMA, Mountain Studies Institute and the Water Information Program. This year we’ll take yet another new tack on it, focusing on the Dolores and San Juan watersheds, with a special interest in the history and prehistory of the area. We’ll travel from a fen at the top of Taylor Mesa to the Anasazi Heritage Center, Yucca House, and the Ute Farm and Ranch south of Towaoc. We can do all this thanks to generous grants from the Southwestern Water Conservation District, and two chapters of Trout Unlmited: Dolores River Anglers and Five Rivers. Any teachers who are interested in sharing this topic with their classes as well as obtaining continuing education hours and/or Adams State University credit, please ask them to contact Emily at MSI – emily@mountainstudies.org.

A brand-new program SJMA is offering this summer is one in partnership with the Cortez Recreation Center’s Playground Days program and Dolores River Anglers chapter of Trout Unlimited. It’s called Southwest Colorado Aquatic Connections – a.k.a. Fish Adventures, and is made possible in part by a grant from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Playground Days is day camp offered by Cortez Parks and Recreation throughout the summer. SJMA will be visiting the kids in this program every Wednesday for 6 weeks, teaching them about everything from water, water conservation, aquatic macroinvertebrates, fish and fishing! We’ll culminate the lessons in a visit to the Dolores River where we’ll see what fish we can catch! We do need volunteers every Wednesday (June 18 – July 23), and especially MANY volunteers to help with the fishing on July 23rd. A background check is required to volunteer, and is paid for by the Cortez Rec Center. Please contact SJMA for more information at gabi@sjma.org or 970-385-1256.