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Hermosa bill stage set 50 years ago

Enacting the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act is very welcome. It might be appropriate to review its longer history.

Fifty years ago, or so, a few of us questioned the San Juan Forest’s management plan for Hermosa Creek. Basically, the west side of the watershed was designated to be extensively logged. This logging was to supply timber for the Weidman sawmill down on Sawmill Road. Many of the town fathers favored this approach because the sawmill provided a much-needed payroll in those days.

As a result of this questioning Rod Blacker, the forest supervisor, called for a public meeting, so both sides could voice their opinions. This meeting was dominated by logger types, but a few of us testified against this activity. As a result, Blacker thought it best to appoint a committee to frame a broader management approach, if necessary. He appointed: Roy Craig, scientist, educator and from a pioneer family who had grazing rights in Hermosa; Joe Hotter, pioneer rancher and range caretaker who knew first-hand the economic value of backcountry recreation; John Zink, pioneer family and retailer; myself; and one other I can’t remember for sure, but I think it was Frank Bowman from Fort Lewis, who had been active in wildland preservation. My interest related back to my time as wildlife biologist for the San Juan Forest from 1961 to 1965. Hermosa was the original home to the elk herd transplanted a century ago, and I recorded a grizzly track in lower Salt Creek in 1962. It was still wild.

How the committee worked is fuzzy in my mind, but work it did. After many meetings, the management recommendations were basic: no more roads; reduce overgrazing by elk, sheep and cattle; restrict mechanical transportation to designated trails and roads; and acquire private lands. “Watershed” would be its principal value. A wilderness designation was bandied about.

Blacker accepted these recommendations and, with the help of rangers like Karl Zeller and Ted LeMay, set the tone for the future of the watershed.

Without these earlier efforts, there wouldn’t have been pristine areas left to legally preserve.

Chet Anderson

Durango



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