Media Contact:
Tom Sluis
City of Durango
Public Information Officer
(970) 375-5090
Tom.Sluis@durangogov.org
Durango, CO: A climbing stewardship to restore eroded areas around Euro Boulder in Dalla Mountain Park has been made possible through a Great Outdoors Colorado grant awarded to the city in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and Durango’s newly formed advocacy group, Durango Climbers Coalition.
Durango Parks and Recreation and the Bureau of Land Management received $48,000 in Great Outdoors Colorado grant funding that is specifically for hiring local conservation corps, which is Southwest Conservation Corps for our region. The full grant project funding includes a $9,619 match from the city, a $27,240 match from the BLM, and a $1,437 match from the Durango Climbers Coalition.
The joint effort was made possible by the Durango Area Trails Alliance, an ongoing partnership of local land management agencies who collaborate on recreational stewardship and management across ownership boundaries. The city-owned Dalla Mountain Park and adjacent BLM-owned Animas City Mountain have a lot of opportunity for climbers to recreate, but purpose built, sustainable climbing access and experiences are just coming into focus for our local agencies. Climbers will often create social trails to some of the more popular boulders and cliff faces, which causes erosion when not take care of.
“Dalla Mountain Park has the highest concentration of climbing in any park in any city in the state of Colorado. Until this project with Southwest Conservation Corps crews, we had not been stewarding Dalla Mountain Park with climbing in mind,” said Amy Schwarzbach, the city’s natural resource manager.
Southwest Conservation Corp crews worked seven weeks at Euro Boulder. Additional time spent by city open space and trails crews to haul in rock materials. Together with Durango Climbers Coalition volunteers, and the crews mitigated severe erosion around the base of the boulder by installing check steps, improving drainage, and armoring areas to prevent future soil loss. The result will not only benefit natural resources in this area of Dalla Mountain Park, but also enhance the climbing experience.
“When you compact the soil and rain hits the ground it starts to carry all that soil with it. The erosion from Euro Boulder and the socially created access to it has a broader impact not only to wildlife, but other trails and Junction Creek down below.” Schwarzbach said. “The Southwest Conservation Corps crews that worked on this project not only helped provide awesome recreation, but also helped fulfill the city’s obligation to our conservation easement. They’re taking care of fish and wildlife habitat, and the vegetation in the area.”
The grant that enabled this project is a partnership between Great Outdoors Colorado and Colorado Youth Corps Association, specific to hiring local conservation corps. Durango is home to Southwest Conservation Corps which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Southwest Conservation Corps provides career development for local youth and opportunities for adults of diverse backgrounds.
Southwest Conservation Corps Youth Programs Manager Teresa DiTore said the group effort is crucial to the project. “I think that’s something that very special about where we live is that collaboration is key to getting stuff done and These projects are a great example of that,” she said.