Welcome
The Mixed Conifer Working Group will release a report soon. They will review a draft at the February 17th meeting. The next phase of the Working Group will include doing more community education and taking on efforts such as monitoring.
THE UPPER SAN JUAN MIXED-CONIFER WORK GROUP (Working Group) started in the fall of 2010 and is focusing on the warm and cool mixed-conifer forests in the Pagosa Ranger District, which is a unit of the San Juan Public Lands in Southwest Colorado. The charge to the diverse stakeholder group is to participate in a year-long working group process that includes education, speakers and field trips, along with public meetings, facilitated dialogue and consensus-building. The goal is a shared vision for management of the mixed-conifer forests tied with concrete actions and recommendations. Phase II of the group will look at establishing a monitoring plan.
The group is made up of: ecologists, ranchers, educators, forest-related businesses, fire personnel and EMS, Home Owners’ Associations, representatives from federal, state and county government and entities, consultants, conservationists, staff from the Pagosa Ranger District Office (USFS) – and interested citizens.
The specific activities the group is undertaking include:
- sharing and strengthening understanding of appropriate methods of maintaining and increasing health and resiliency in the mixed-conifer landscape;
- broadening knowledge of current conditions, conservation needs, and opportunities;
- developing a set of restoration approaches, actions, and projects;
- initiating and recommending projects that address high priority needs and opportunities for restoration; and
- establishing follow-up monitoring methods to guide adaptive management.
While the group is advisory in nature, the intention is to craft a plan in such a collaborative fashion that it will assist the USFS in their decision-making related to the mixed-conifer forests for years into the future.
The mission of the group is stated as (draft as of 11/2010):
The Upper San Juan Mixed Conifer Workgroup is committed to collaborative approaches to improving the health and long-term resilience of mixed-conifer forests and the communities located near them in southwest Colorado. The Workgroup will focus on strengthening understanding, sharing knowledge and lessons learned, developing management approaches, initiating high priority projects, and monitoring results using an adaptive framework.
This project is funded by a grant from the National Forest Foundation, and in-kind contributions from many organizations and volunteers. The San Juan Resource Conservation and Development Council serves as the fiscal agent.