How acres were saved for posterity

The maneuvering that went into putting 9,000 acres surrounding historic Red Mountain Pass beyond the reach of development is one of the best-kept secrets around, a member of the task force responsible for the effort says.

“It’s time the story was told,” Ken Francis, said last week before the presentation of the first of two public lectures at the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College on the 14-year-old Red Mountain Project.

Francis is the college’s director of community services and interim director of its Center of Southwest Studies. He succeeds center director Kevin Britz, who died about a year ago.

The Red Mountain Project started when it became apparent that development threatened the natural and historic heritage represented by thousands of old mining claims, their crumbling structures and vestiges of wagon roads and railroad lines.

The Red Mountain Task Force was organized in 1998 by county officials, history buffs and preservationists in San Juan and Ouray counties. San Miguel County was brought in later.

“There was a rush in the 1990s to buy land because the government was virtually giving it away,” Francis said. “We could see that this would change our heritage.”

Realizing the enormity of the endeavor, task force members found a ready partner in The Trust for Public Land. The trust, which preserves in perpetuity land from inner city to wilderness, has secured for posterity 3 million acres since it was formed in 1972.

In May 2001, the U.S. Forest Service named the Red Mountain Historic District its No. 1 preservation priority in the country. In the next year, the agency was allocated a total of $9.6 million for land purchases.

Former area congressmen, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Rep. Scott McInnis, were instrumental in getting money to purchase many of the mining claims, most dating from the 1880s, Corzine said.

“The majority of the land we purchased, but some is in private hands but protected by conservation easements,” Francis said. “The big task now is preservation of the historic structures.

“It was an amazing feat,” Francis said. “We worked behind the scenes but we got the work done.”

Official speakers Wednesday were Jason Corzine with The Trust for Public Land and task force members Bob Risch, the third-term mayor of Ouray, and Bev Rich, San Juan County treasurer and member of the San Juan County Historical Society.

Members of the audience familiar with the work joined the conversation.

In addition to the purchases – the last about four years ago – there were outright donations of land, he said. But some claims were not easily acquired, he said.

Frank Baumgartner, a cantankerous geologist, oilman and miner, in 1956 began to buy mining claims, which ultimately added up to 1,600 acres.

Perhaps as a demonstration of private property rights, Baumgartner in 2002 bulldozed the boarding house and the manager’s quarters at the landmark Kohler/Longellow mine.

Many of Baumgartner’s holdings since have passed to the public domain or to private parties who sold or donated the land to the cause, Francis said.

Baumgartner still owns land there, but much of it is undevelopable because of steep terrain, geological hazards or avalanche danger, Francis said.

There is still land to be placed in conservatorship, Risch said.

The Idarado Mining Co., which owns about 2,000 acres in the area, is under orders from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to improve water quality in Red Mountain Creek, where the drainage is contaminated by metals from mining and from natural, or background, sources.

Twenty years of attempted remediation hasn’t entirely worked, Risch said. Instead of throwing more money at the problem, he said, perhaps it’s time to look at other options.

Total financial support for land acquisition and historical restoration projects around Red Mountain has reached $15 million, Francis said.

The bulk, $13.5 million, is from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which accrues from payments by off-shore drilling permitees. The money is divided among the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service.

The remainder came from Great Outdoors Colorado, the National Scenic Byway Program, the State Historical Fund and the Gates Family Foundation.

The presentation Wednesday was an overview of the Red Mountain Project. The second lecture features historic-preservation contractor Chris George who will describe his work to preserve structures.

Corzine said an estimated 1 to 5 percent of the structures that existed in the Red Mountain mining heyday still stand. George has saved two dozen of them, including mine head frames, blacksmith shops and stables.

The Red Mountain lectures are among 11 that the Center of Southwest Studies will present into June. Among other topics are Mesa Verde National Park, the Spring Creek wild horse program and the summer solstice window viewing on June 21.

daler@durangoherald.com