SAN LUIS VALLEY —- In commemoration of Colorado Public Lands Day, the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council (SLVEC), in association with EcoFlight, gave local officials and groups an overhead view of various public lands and proposals in the area in an effort to  spread awareness on various projects. EcoFlight’s mission is to realize the worldwide conservation campaign 30x30, securing 30% marine /land protection by the year 2030. EcoFlight accepts donations and receives funding from the Wyss Campaign for Nature, a conservation flagship of the Wyss Foundation named for its founder, Hansjörg Wyss. The SLVEC has been in operation since 1996 and is a grassroots non-profit corporation that focuses on preservation, education and stewardship of local flora and fauna within the San Luis Valley. They partner with various organizations and rely on volunteer work and donations. Director Christine Canaly and Project Manager Anna Vargas combined to bring the EcoFlight to the Valley along with fellow board members and flight participants Alexander Kamrud and Craig Rauwolf.

“We did the Rio Grande, along the corridor, and that's the one that if you look down and you can see Kiowa Hill, and you could see why it's amazing and beautiful … ” Vargas said of the flight. “These are the natural historical cultural resources. These are sacred sites. This is (why) we want to protect them we take people out there to educate them, (show them) the landscape.”

The tours covered two itineraries over three flights, that included locations such as a potential conservation area near the New Mexico border, La Jara Reservoir, the Sawatch Mountain range, as well as valley icons like The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Mount Blanca.

Many of those asked were quick to point out how green everything was despite ongoing drought, including State Sen. Cleave Simpson, who pointed to irrigation as a possible explanation for the contradictory sight and marveled at the beauty of the Valley.

“It's always an experience to see things that I work with and deal with all the time from a bird's eye perspective,” said Simpson. “The Lobatos Bridge and seeing the Rio Grande as it exits Colorado into New Mexico, it's always just kind of inspiring to think about where we live.”

Officials and groups were shown the territory of a conservation project the SLVEC is considering in the Rio Grande corridor. The possible National Conservation Area is, as the SLVEC website says, an effort to “protect and restore the biological diversity, ecosystems, and natural resources in the Upper Rio Grande.”

Officials and groups were shown the territory of a conservation project the SLVEC is considering in the Rio Grande corridor. The possible National Conservation Area is, as the SLVEC website says, an effort to “protect and restore the biological diversity, ecosystems, and natural resources in the Upper Rio Grande.”

Work on the project goes back over a decade and includes approximately  81,000 acres worth of land eligible for more protection along the Rio Grande corridor extending from near the southern tip of the Alamosa Wildlife Refuge to near the northern border of the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument.

Flights took participants over prominent locations within the project area, including Flat Top Mesa, San Luis Hills and BLM land like the McIntire-Simpson property acquired in 1993. SLVEC’s property report states that the area contains riparian habitat known to support numerous important species, including the endangered southwest willow flycatcher and the threatened yellow-billed cuckoo

To the west, passengers were also given a look at the La Jara Reservoir. The State Land Board recently agreed to sell the reservoir to Colorado Parks and Wildlife in a public land transfer this past November for $1000 an acre. The deal, including over 43,000 acres in Conejos County, and was made possible by funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. When completed, the sale could clear $43.5 million. State Rep. Matthew Martinez, also a passenger on the flights, was happy to receive an elevated look at the various locations he works on and chose to zero in on La Jara Reservoir.

“I think that the reservoir was a lot lower now than it was about four years ago, when we went up there,” said Martinez. “And you can definitely see where some of the water line has receded and again really just why it's so critical that we that we are investing in water, and we're trying to do everything we can to preserve (and) conserve.”

Flights also showed visitors to an area beyond the Cochetopa Caldera in the shadow of the namesake Sawtooth Mountain and bordering Blue Mesa Reservoir. The current versions of the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act (GORP) - S.1791, H.R. 3421, proposes to designate approximately 43,109 acres as the Sawtooth Wildlife Conservation Area.

According to the act, the purpose is “to conserve, protect, enhance, and restore for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations” of both wildlife and wildlife habitat, as well as resources of the Sawtooth WCA spanning from scenic and scientific to recreational. The act also provides carve-outs for potential development, including proposed trails – Tenderfoot Mountain to Bambi’s trail and Big Loop Trail. The act leaves management to the ‘secretary’, in a manner that the act says furthers the purpose of the various WCAs. In the case of Sawtooth WCA, as BLM land, ‘secretary’ means Secretary of the Interior Doug Bergum.

GORP was most recently introduced by Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper in the U.S. Senate and Reps. Jeff Hurd and Joe Neguse in the House in May of 2025. It has been read and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

To learn more about the Upper Rio Grande National Conservation Area, and other projects SLVEC are working on visit https://www.slvec.org