SAGUACHE COUNTY — Join Ty Benally with the Baca Grande National Wildlife Refuge on June 14 at 9 a.m. for a guided hike along the Baca Refuge's Nature and Heritage Trail. This is a birding and ecology trek. Meet at the Crestone Kiosk on the T Road near Crestone.  

The 93,000-acre Baca National Wildlife Refuge, a breathtaking landscape established in 2004 on what was the Baca Grant Ranch, is a diverse combination of shrublands, grasslands, wet meadows, playa wetlands, and riparian areas. The refuge was set aside as a haven for migratory and resident wildlife and also as an important piece in a broader conservation effort to protect the wildlife, habitat, and water of the north and eastern portions of the San Luis Valley. The refuge is a great place to view elk in the fall. 

Dani Robben with SLV GO!, who has guided hikes on the Nature and Heritage Trail in the past, provided this update on trails in the region, "The Eastern San Luis Valley Trails Coalition just celebrated the completion of the Safe Routes to School Trail, paved concrete trail which connects the Crestone Charter School to Camino Baca Grande where the sidewalk continues to Baca Grant Way. This was a multi-year endeavor to provide safe travel for children, families, and all residents to walk and bike to school/town. In addition, there is a crusher fine trail that SLV GO! built that connects the kiosk to the Safe Routes to School Trail." 

The Friends of the San Luis Wildlife Refuges sponsors this free walk. For more information, call Evert Brown at 307-315-8003 or visit www.slvrefuges.org. 

A small, dedicated group formed the Friends in 1999. More than 20 years later, we are still going strong and working with our refuges to fulfill their missions. To date, the Friends have been instrumental in building the Meadow Lark Trail on the Monte Vista NWR, the Discovery Room at the Alamosa NWR, many years of Kid's Crane Festivals, and the Monte Vista Crane Festival.