Rio Grande National Forest
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Rio Grande National Forest
Rio Grande National Forest is a 1.86 million-acre (7,530 km2) U.S. National Forest located in southwestern Colorado. The forest encompasses the San Luis Valley, which is the world's largest agricultural alpine valley, as well as one of the world's largest high deserts located around mountains. The Rio Grande rises in the forest, and the Continental Divide runs along most of its western border. The forest lies in parts of nine counties. In descending order of land area within the forest they are Saguache, Mineral, Conejos, Rio Grande, Hinsdale, San Juan, Alamosa, Archuleta, and Custer counties. Forest headquarters are currently located in Del Norte, Colorado. There are local ranger district offices in Del Norte, La Jara, and Saguache. Wilderness areas There are four officially designated wilderness areas lying within Rio Grande National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. All of them extend partially into neighboring National Fo ...
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Silverton, Colorado
Silverton is a statutory town that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in San Juan County, Colorado, United States. The town is located in a remote part of the western San Juan Mountains, a range of the Rocky Mountains. The first mining claims were made in mountains above the Silverton in 1860, near the end of the Colorado Gold Rush and when the land was still controlled by the Utes. Silverton was established shortly after the Utes ceded the region in the 1873 Brunot Agreement, and the town boomed from silver mining until the Panic of 1893 led to a collapse of the silver market, and boomed again from gold mining until the recession caused by the Panic of 1907. The entire town is included as a federally designated National Historic Landmark District, the Silverton Historic District. Originally called "Bakers Park", Silverton sits in a flat area of the Animas River valley and is surrounded by steep peaks. Most of the pea ...
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Alamosa County, Colorado
Alamosa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,376. The county seat is Alamosa. The county name is the Spanish language word for a grove of cottonwood trees. History Alamosa County was created by the Colorado legislature on March 8, 1913, out of northwestern Costilla County. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.1%) is water. Adjacent counties * Saguache County, Colorado - north *Huerfano County, Colorado - east * Costilla County, Colorado - southeast *Conejos County, Colorado - southwest * Rio Grande County, Colorado - west Major highways * U.S. Highway 160 * U.S. Highway 285 * State Highway 17 * State Highway 150 * State Highway 368 * State Highway 370 * State Highway 371 National protected area * Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Other protected areas * Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge * Great Sand Dunes Wilder ...
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La Garita Wilderness
The La Garita Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located in the La Garita Mountains of southern Colorado. The wilderness established in 1964 in Gunnison and Rio Grande National Forests includes segments of the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. At , San Luis Peak is the highest point in the wilderness area. One entrance to the wilderness area is via Forest Road 787 from Saguache Park and Cochetopa Park off State Highway 114 west of Saguache, Colorado. There is a parking lot for visitors to the wilderness area at the south end of FS 787. Cochetopa Park may also be entered from the east over Cochetopa Pass via Saguache County Road NN14. Climate La Garita Peak, , is the eponymous peak of the La Garita Wilderness and the La Garita Mountains. La Garita Peak has an Alpine climate (Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German mili ...
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National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List of national parks of the United States, national parks; most National monument (United States), national monuments; and other natural, historical, and recreational properties, with various title designations. The United States Congress created the agency on August 25, 1916, through the National Park Service Organic Act. Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., within the main headquarters of the Department of the Interior. The NPS employs about 20,000 people in units covering over in List of states and territories of the United States, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Territories of the United States, US territories. In 2019, the service had more than 279,000 volunteers. The agency is charged with preserving the ecological a ...
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National Wilderness Preservation System
The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federal government of the United States, federally managed Wilderness, wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the National Wilderness Preservation System. Wilderness areas are managed by four federal land management agencies: the National Park Service, the United States Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. The term ''wilderness'' is defined as "an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain" and "an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions". , list of wilder ...
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Wilderness Area
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally referred to terrestrial environments, though growing attention is being placed on marine wilderness. Recent maps of wilderness suggest it covers roughly one-quarter of Earth's terrestrial surface, but is being rapidly degraded by human activity. Even less wilderness remains in the ocean, with only 13.2% free from intense human activity. Some governments establish protection for wilderness areas by law to not only preserve what already exists, but also to promote and advance a natural expression and development. These can be set up in preserves, conservation preserves, national forests, national parks and even in urban areas along rivers, gulches or otherwise undeveloped areas. Often these areas are considered important for the surviva ...
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Rio Grande National Forest September 2013
Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Florida, a census-designated place * Rio, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Rio, Illinois, a village * Rio, a location in Deerpark, New York * Rio, Virginia, a community * Rio, West Virginia, a village * Rio, Wisconsin, a village * El Río, Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, a barrio Elsewhere * Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, often referred to as simply Rio * Rio, Italy, a municipality on the island of Elba in Tuscany * Rio, Greece, a community in suburban Patras People * Rio (given name) * Rio (surname) * Tina Yuzuki (born 1986), also known as Rio, Japanese AV idol Arts and entertainment Films * ''Rio'' (1939 film), starring Basil Rathbone * ''Rio'' (franchise), a film series and related media * ''Rio'' (2011 film), an animated film from 20th C ...
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Saguache, Colorado
Saguache ( ) is a Statutory Town in and the county seat of Saguache County, Colorado, United States. The population was 539 at the United States Census 2020. History Saguache is a small historical village in an agricultural area in southern Colorado at the northern gateway to the San Luis Valley, a valley between the Sangre de Cristo Range on the east and the San Juan Mountains to the west. Saguache Creek flows through the town from its beginnings high in the San Juan mountains. The site has been known for centuries to Native Americans who moved down from their summer homes in the mountains to the valley during the winter months. The Spanish began to move into the area in the 1600s and Spanish sheepherders passed through each year as they drove their flocks into the hills for summer grazing. Later the early white settlers and miners passed through this area, many seeking passage west along the Old Spanish Trail. In the mid-1860s, the first permanent white settlements were ...
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La Jara, Colorado
La Jara is a statutory town in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. The population was 730 at the 2020 United States census. Geography La Jara is in the San Luis Valley region of Colorado. U.S. Route 285 passes through La Jara, leading north to Alamosa and south to the New Mexico border and beyond. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land. Demographics Notable people *Eppie Archuleta, master weaver and 1985 recipient of the National Heritage Fellowship The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's h ... * Morton Blackwell, conservative political activist, born in La Jara in 1939 * Donald Valdez, former Colorado State Representative See also References External links * {{authority control Towns in Conejos County, ...
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National Park Ranger
National Park Service rangers are among the uniformed employees charged with protecting and preserving areas set aside in the National Park System by the United States Congress and the President of the United States. While all employees of the agency contribute to the National Park Service mission of preserving unimpaired the natural and cultural resources set aside by the American people for future generations, the term "park ranger" is traditionally used to describe all National Park Service employees who wear the uniform. Broadly speaking, all National Park Service rangers promote stewardship of the resources in their care—either voluntary stewardship via resource interpretation, or compliance with statute or regulation through law enforcement. These comprise the two main disciplines of the ranger profession in the National Park Service. History The term "ranger" is from a Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400. "Rangers" patrolled royal forests and parks to prevent ...
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