Colorado

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Railroad Valley Oil Well, Battle Mountain NV

Learning Landscapes



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Colorado

Colorado's public lands are concentrated in the mountainous portion of the state. These 8.4 million acres range in elevation from 4,000 to 14,000 feet and include canyons, mesas, and mountain ranges. In addition to spectacular scenery, important cultural sites are located in the state. The ruins of the prehistoric Anasazi culture are being preserved in the Four Corners region. The Anasazi Heritage Center has an extensive educational program focusing on the Anasazi culture, which flourished on the high plateau for thousands of years. More recent cultural heritage is preserved in several ghost towns in the San Juan Mountains, site of gold and silver mines.

Anasazi Heritage Center Teaching Resources

Colorado’s Energy Story

Colorado Environmental Education Home Page

SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Anasazi Heritage Center, Phone: (970) 882-5600

The AHC Loan Trunk program has three general subject areas: archaeology, botany, and ethnology/cultures. The loan trunks contain real artifacts and/or plant samples, suggested classroom activities, and resource lists for where to find related materials, guest speakers, and field trip destinations. The trunks are loaned for up to four weeks to schools all over the U.S.

Anasazi Heritage Center Museum Education Program
The Anasazi Heritage Center museum education program consists of exhibits, guided educational activities, and teacher training workshops on archaeology, cultures, and ecology related to the human/landscape interface in the Four Corners region. The museum includes a theater, hands-on discovery area, and exhibits on archaeology, local history, and Pueblo, Ute and Navajo life ways. The Escalante Pueblo curriculum (available on-line) provides lesson plans and activities to complement a class visit to the Heritage Center.

Canyons of the Ancients Education Program
This program consists of: guided cultural/natural resource field days, a printed educator’s guide, school field trips, on-site structured activities, classroom presentations, teacher training workshops, and archaeological site brochures, signs, and exhibits. Activities focus on cultural resources but include many resource topics and school subjects.

Colorado State Office, Phone: (303) 239-3600
Colorado Fossil Education Kits
Eleven kits are available from BLM-Colorado Field Offices for loan to groups (mostly grade schools) interested in Colorado fossils and their management by BLM. Each kit includes local/regional paleontological information, fossil casts, activities, brochures, dinosaur coloring posters, and a slide show. In some cases, a BLM staff member or volunteer may be available to help teach with the kit.

Grand Junction Field Office, Phone: (970) 244-3000
McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area Orientation
This program provides local schools and other groups an orientation to the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area (NCA), including an overview of its resources and why the NCA was designated by Congress. Guided environmental education field trips are offered, during which NCA staff discuss resource issues and concerns.

Environmental Education & Awareness
Local students are provided an opportunity to learn about the natural resources of the public lands through programs in the schools as well as field trips in the Grand Junction area. The program reinforces classroom learning and helps students to understand environmental ethics and the resources of the public lands. It also introduces BLM as a land management agency.

Gunnison Field Office, Phone: (970) 641-0471
Water Festival
This interagency field day teaches 4^th graders in the Gunnison Valley about water and water-related issues. The day culminates in a competition among students (who get easy questions), teachers (who get medium-hard questions), and resource specialists (who get ridiculously hard questions) involving water-related facts.

Youth Summit
On this interagency-sponsored field day, 7^th-grade students from the Gunnison Valley learn about a variety of natural resource topics, including forestry, wilderness, water quality, wildlife, and mapping. Some topics are reinforced with classroom sessions before the field day.

Royal Gorge Field Office, Phone: (719) 269-8500
Teaching Environmental Education Naturally--Fremont
This four-day, outdoor public lands workshop for teachers provides environmental education activities they can use with their students. Continuing Education and Graduate credits are offered.

RE-1 Outdoor Classroom
In this two-day outdoor classroom, students rotate through six stations that cover healthy streams and riparian areas, public land use ethics, wildfire education, animal tracks, nature sketching, macroinvertebrates, and how birds adapt to their environment.

RE-2 Outdoor Classroom
Students rotate through five stations featuring activities that teach public land use ethics, wildfire education, Leave No Trace, the importance of water on public lands, and other natural resource-related topics.

San Juan Public Lands Center (Durango), Phone:
(970) 247-4874
Learning on the Land, Field and Classroom Programs
San Juan Mountains Association, a non-profit interpretive partner for the BLM and Forest Service, offers field trips to local public lands, as well as presentations geared for the elementary classroom. Classroom presentation topics include: wildfire, mountain lions, trees, and Leave No Trace principles. Field trips cover such topics as: animal adaptations, evidence animals leave behind, trees, web of life, birds, and habitats. Field trips can take place throughout the year, including snowshoeing in the winter. Other programs are available upon request. Visit www.sjma.org or call (970) 385-1256 for more information.

San Luis Valley Field Office, Phone: (719) 852-5941
Blanca Wetlands Education Program
The Blanca Wetlands Education Program includes several age-appropriate lessons linked to Colorado Education Content Standards. Objectives change according to the age group, but in general are to develop an appreciation for and understanding of wetlands ecosystems and how humans affect and are affected by wetlands. The Blanca Wetlands Education Program also includes a teacher education component.

Uncompahgre Field Office, Phone: (970) 240-5300
Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area - Living Classrooms Program
Program provides local students and teachers opportunities to explore and learn about the natural resources of the Gunnison Gorge NCA. Field trips include hikes, off-highway vehicle, and river trips that emphasize “hands on” learning, public land awareness, management, and stewardship.

Norwood Field Day
Students from schools in the Norwood area are bused to various sites at which specialists from several agencies give presentations and/or demonstrations about the natural resources at those locations. Students learn about geology/soil, water/precipitation, wildfire, vegetation, wildlife, and their inter-connectedness.

Children’s Water Festival
Fourth-grade students from all the local schools move through a series of 12 stations where resource specialists/instructors teach about different aspects of water. Some of the stations include fun activities along with instruction. The BLM water flow station teaches the mathematics required to calculate stream flow. Students help measure flow with a standard flow meter, and then by floating rubber toys and timing them over a set distance.

Dirt Bike Clubs
Students from the local schools participate in after-school clubs where they learn to ride their dirt bike responsibly and socialize with their peers. These clubs are organized by teachers and two members of the Uncompahgre Trail Crew who are also teachers at the participating schools.
BEYOND SCHOOL

Colorado State Office, Phone: (303) 239-3600
Take a Family Fishing
A fishing clinic is held at Denver Water’s Kassler Education Center and Lehow Lake in Littleton, Colorado. Urban families participate in hands-on learning stations on topics such as knot tying, fish biology/identification, aquatic ecosystems, angling, and boating safety/ethics, followed by casting and lake fishing.

Grand Junction Field Office, Phone: (970) 244-3000
BLM Career Orientation
BLM staff participate in Career Days at local schools to provide orientation to natural resource and other careers in the BLM. Information on careers in BLM is provided to teachers.

Pathways to Fishing
This event, which takes place at a local pond, introduces the sport of fishing to youngsters in the community. Twelve hands-on stations introduce new fisher-kids to safety, fishing basics, aquatic ecology, local fishing, fish biology, equipment, and techniques. Participants receive new tackle boxes and, in some cases, rods and reels.

Gunnison Field Office, Phone: (970) 641-0471
Hunter Education
New hunters are introduced to a variety of topics, including taking care of public lands and reducing impacts on resources. BLM educators also offer similar sessions to hunting instructors so they can include this information in their classes.

Royal Gorge Field Office, Phone: (719) 269-8500
Dinosaur Program
Various dinosaur programs are provided at the Dinosaur Depot and Garden Park Fossil Area.

San Juan Public Lands Center (Durango), Phone:
(970) 247-4874
Learning on the Land, Other Programs
San Juan Mountains Association, in partnership with BLM and the Forest Service, offers summer camps for children on the local plants and animals of the area. Free guided nature hikes led by trained naturalists occur every Tuesday and Saturday throughout the summer at a local ski resort. Field seminars on geology and ecology are offered for families during the summer. A partnership with Mancos State Park brings various interpretive programs to the park. A monthly newsletter on conservation education topics is also available. Visit www.sjma.org or call (970) 385-1256 for more information.

Uncompahgre Field Office, Phone: (970) 240-5300
Uncompahgre Plateau Project
As part of a public and multi-agency collaborative partnership project to manage for ecosystem health, scientists and specialists lead field trips/tours focusing on various parts of the ecosystem.

Weed Education Workshops
BLM, U.S. Forest Service personnel, and county weed supervisors present one-day workshops on local weed identification and growth as well as methods of control.

San Miguel Watershed Education Program - Real Science Summer Internship
Sponsored by BLM, Telluride Institute and other watershed partners, this unique 6-week program provides local students valuable field experience working with six different environmental professionals on projects throughout the watershed.

Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area
ATV and Motorcycle Safety Training
Members of the BLM Uncompahgre Trail Crew, with funding from the Colorado State Parks, conduct ATV and motorcycle safety training classes. These classes are for all ages. The classes, which are taught by certified ASI and MSF instructors, teach users safety and trail etiquette when using their equipment on public lands. Educational messages include Stay the Trail and Tread Lightly! information.
Anasazi Heritage Center Artifact & Cultural Loan Trunks