Supervised 20 student mapping internships over four winters. Provided hands-on experience for college students throughout Colorado in environmental policy making, public lands management, mapping and organizational skills. Local Group Support Convened regular meetings of SREP's mapping coordinators to strategize, pool information, and standardize mapping methods. Provided scientific and organizational expertise to local groups in Montrose, Grand County, and the San Luis Valley. The Southern Rocky Mountains represent the confluence of three great bioregions - the Great Plains, the Colorado Plateau and the continental spine of the Rockies.
Complex topography provides niches for a rich array of plant and animal species.
No less than fourteen distinct vegetation types and hundreds of wildlife species are found in the rugged, layered landscape - giving the Southern Rockies an ecology as diverse as its scenery. Population growth, recreation, logging, mining and grazing pose severe threats to the ecological health of the Southern Rockies. Today's designated wilderness contains mostly high peaks and fails to protect adequate habitat at lower elevations. Habitat is increasingly fragmented into smaller patches by roads, timber sales and housing development. Public land management agencies continue to focus on their own jurisdictions rather than on the interconnected landscape which forms the whole ecosystem.