Sacred Places, Trees, and Songs

  Our group was incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to visit the Ute Tribe's most sacred place, (Sleeping) Ute Mountain, in August. The tour came together after months of meetings with the Council of Elders of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, submitting requests and forms, and making sure all visitors were aware of the protocols. The women donned colorful shawls and everyone piled into two vans for the journey.  We stopped near the entrance to the mountain where a large "No Trespassing" sign was posted. The mountain is off-limits to anyone who is not a member of a Ute tribe, unless they are under the guidance of a tribal member. We circled around and received instruction and a prayer. I realized that this would be an experience that would help me in my everyday life. Overhead, a golden eagle passed by.  Making our way up the mountain, we circled around the central area and headed for the Sun Dance grounds. Suddenly, the van ahead of us stopped by a small tree on the sou...

It takes nearly an hour of driving before you can really feel like you have left Denver. I was at that place, well away from Conifer and past Pine but not yet to the mountain towns of Bailey and Santa Maria. The road emerged from the tree-lined canyon into an open meadow and I saw something out of the corner of my left eye. It was the profile of a hawk, wings outstretched, flying parallel to my car. Then my spirit lifted. I was not in Denver anymore. There were five mountain passes ahead of me. I zoomed over Kenosha Pass and down into South Park, heading straight south through that wide valley. Then came Poncha Pass which brought me to the San Luis Valley, the largest high-altitude valley in the world. In the northern half of this valley, there is no drainage. Water that falls, and snow that melts stays in this valley and nurtures the many crops and livestock growing there.  The Southern half of the valley is home to the Rio Grande that flows from its headwaters in the San Juan F...

  Barely noticed in the flurry of executive orders during the new Administration last week was the pronouncement of an "Energy Emergency" allowing oil and gas developers to proceed to drill and bulldoze without worrying about pesky environmental concerns.This includes development on fragile wetlands, around rivers and streams, and on banks and beaches. The damage that could be caused would be permanent and far-reaching, not only to water quality and stream flow, but also to plant and wildlife, habitat, historical and sacred sites, and future viability.  Colorado is well familiar with the harm that extractive industries can cause. With its history of mining, the state has been dealing with polluted waters from mine runoff for over a century. Such metals as gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, lead, and uranium have been mined in the mountainous regions of the state. Often, chemicals were used to extract the metal from the ore, compounding the toxicity. Many waterways have never r...

Participation by Indigenous Groups Needed in Boarding School Issue Dr. James Jefferson, an elder of the Southern Ute tribe, has maintained that many more children died at the sites of Indian boarding schools than have been reported. The state of Colorado funded research into the matter and History Colorado issued a report in October, 2023. It was found to be woefully inadequate by many advocates of Native America, including the Association for Native American Sacred Trees and Places (NASTaP) of which Dr. Jefferson is the president.  A study recently published by the Washington Post confirmed this shortcoming. By examining records, it was determined that at least 76 children died during incarceration at the Colorado sites, more than three times the number in the History Colorado report. According to NASTaP, this is just the beginning. More grave sites are yet to be discovered.  Last year, Governor Polis of Colorado allocated $1 million more to studying the Indian boarding sch...

Breaking News:  Lease Auctions Start for BLM Lands in Colorado Quick on the heels of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" and Secy. of the Interior Burgum's order to increase leasing and sales of public land (see comments), an auction was held on September 9 to turn over nearly 8,000 acres of public land to developers. The largest of these parcels was on a landfill and Superfund site near Aurora Reservoir, slated for about 150 wells to be installed by the Civitas oil and gas giant.  The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees about 36 million acres in Colorado alone.  Another, larger auction is set for December 2025.    Published December 2024 Five Hundred Million Acres of Public Lands at Risk  Last month we were alerted to the dangers to old-growth forests from logging interests eyeing our national forests. That danger has grown with a hiring freeze at the National Forest Service and DOGE cuts sure to come. The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees our ...

The Colorado River, which arises in Rocky Mountain National Park near the Continental Divide of North America, is tasked with quenching the thirst of 40 million people as well as plants, animals, fish, and wildlife in seven states and Northern Mexico. Where does water in the vast Colorado River Basin go? A new survey from the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University answers this question comprehensively. The report takes into account all uses of the water, including for the first time evaporation from waterways as well as reservoirs and lakes. The results were surprising. Most people assume that the population growth of the cities in Colorado, Arizona, and California are leading in the drying up of the river's waters. In contrast, it is agriculture that receives the lion's share. The report concludes: "Irrigated agriculture is the dominant consumer of water from the Colorado River."  The report further breaks down agricultural uses into crops. The ...