Hello all!
The Colorado trip has been hard at work in the beautiful Rocky Mountain landscapes!
Yesterday (Monday) the group woke up bright and early for work in Disappointment Valley. The valley got it's name when the Mormons were migrating west and settled in to the beautiful canyons hoping to call it home. They were disappointed however, when they tried to farm and nothing grew. Today it's a federally designated wilderness area which means motorized vehicles are only allowed on maintained roads. "Maintained" means dirt. There is no pavement or gravel.
This designation has kept the area in nearly pristine condition. Not a single telephone line, car, house, building, etc. could be seen at all. In fact, our new firefighter friends told us the nearest trace of civilization was 20 and 30 minutes away on either side of the Valley.
Part of our group worked with Bob and Ben to repair and rework an existing fence used to herd the horses. The Bureau of Land Management and San Juan Mountains Association like to keep the herd between 25 and 65. Currently, they estimate the herd at approximately 50. When the population becomes too large, the land can no longer support it. With the help of special contractors and a helicopter, the horses are herded against a far fence and then led down into a steep canyon to keep them from spreading out. From there, one contractor stands with a domestic horse called a "Judas horse." When the wild herd comes racing around the canyon the Judas horse is released and runs into the traps. The other horses follow the lead and run right into the traps. The horses that are successfully rounded up are taken to adoption auctions where any brave enough to break a wild horse may purchase one for themselves.
Another portion of our group worked cutting down the tamarisk plants. We stand corrected: we previously blogged that one tamarisk plant can absorb approximately 100 gallons of water a year. That's not the case. One tamarisk plant can absorb approximately 200 gallons of water A DAY. And let me say, they were everywhere.
The tamarisk isn't native to North America. It was brought from Asia for decorative purposes. Many people still have them in their yards as ornamental plants. Because people aren't educated about the invasive nature of the plant, the water source for many is being depleted. And as fireman Chris put it, "In western Colorado, water is gold." So as it turns out, this plant is causing big problems for not only the wild horse population, but western Colorado residents as well.
Today the group worked in McElmo Canyon repairing more fences and installing signs designating no-driving zones. Although Forestry officials want citizens to be able to enjoy the land with recreational vehicles, they aim to balance that with respecting sacred ruins. The canyon is littered with ancient artifacts. There is a deep respect for the ruins, however, and their connection to their location. Because of that, neither private citizens nor many cultural centers are permitted to remove any artifacts. The Southwest Conservation Corps. is currently working to decommission many roads (there are approximately 100 in the 1 square mile where we worked) to prevent motor traffic from driving over ancient burial grounds.
It was such a treat to find a new shard of pottery every few paces. We found large ones, small ones, painted ones, colored ones, flat ones, and corrugated ones. We also found many broken arrow heads and ruins of Kivas. Although they were once 10 or 15 feet tall, now all that remains is a stone outline of the floors and foundations. Kivas were typically used for religious purposes and the ones we saw were approximately 2,000 to 3,000 years old.
Stay tuned to hear about our trip to the infamous Cutthroat Castle with David Kill tomorrow!
***Sorry our group has no pictures to add to the blog. We weren't expecting internet so most of us don't have our computers, much less camera cords!
Stephanie
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