This summer we interned with the High Country Citizen’s Alliance in Crested, Butte, Colorado. HCCA is a community-based, non-profit organization, which started 25 years ago in an attempt to avert a mining threat to “Red Lady Bull”. The fight continues today, as the most successful opposition to a local mining threat. HCCA has expanded to include three more divisions, including Public Lands, Water and a Community division. We interned in the Public Lands department, as part of their annual Roadless Inventory Project. As members of the field crew, we collaborated with other college students from around the country (and Tasmania!) to inventory roads that boarder roadless area boundaries in the Gunnison National Forrest. HCCA was one of six organizations working for the Southern Rockies Forest Network mapping the Gunnison National Forest in order to present an accurate representation of the forest to be used in the revised Gunnison National Forrest Future Forest plan. Roadless areas are classified as areas without motorized use (such as ATVs, motorcycles and 4WD vehicles). Forests achieving Roadless Area status are not as strictly regulated as designated Wilderness areas in which only hiking is permitted.

      Our week consisted of four days and nights in the field and Fridays in the office doing data entry, leaving the weekend to explore Crested Butte and the surrounding mountains. Each day in the field was spent hiking the boundary roads, documenting evidence of motorized use. We would follow maps from previous field crews, taking GPS points along each road and at each intersection. We would encounter many roads not previously documented, known as ghost roads, and follow each to its end. After walking each road and documenting pertinent features such as erosion, method of construction, water bars, trail braiding, wildlife, closures, type of motorized use and water crossings with a digital camera, we would complete a route form. Each road was classified, using National Forest standards, a purpose was described (such as recreation, logging access, access to private property) and a recommendation for closure or maintenance was offered.

      After collecting data for four days in the field, we would return to the office for data entry each Friday. We would download the data from the GPS and the digital camera and superimpose the GPS points on the topographical map using GIS. When the project is completed (hopefully after one more summer of collecting data), these maps, along with our recommendations for each route, will be given to the Forest Service in order to create current USGS quadrant maps and to assist with creating the Future Forest Plan. Working on the Roadless Inventory Project introduced us to the inside workings of a non-profit environmental organization and exposed us to future job opportunities. We struggled to decide where we wished to lie on the spectrum of approaches to dealing with environmental issues. We discovered the role which compromise can play in regards to environmental policy. The Mellon stipend enabled us to participate in this project that was both pertinent to our coursework, but was also a wonderful experience.

      This internship opportunity was unpaid, although we received a food stipend for our time spent in the field and we were provided with housing in town during the weekend. HCCA is eager and welcoming to student interns. For more information regarding internships with HCCA, contact Sandy Shea at sshea@rmi.net or visit the HCCA website at: http://hccaonline.org.