In the late 1800s, Europeans displaced native Utes in the Gunnison region, as miners came in pursuit of precious metals, marble, and eventually coal. While mines were humming in the mountains, farms and ranches were established in the valleys. They first supported the mining camps, then grew to turn a profit through livestock ranching. Every year since 1900, residents have celebrated Gunnison’s ranching history at the Cattlemen’s Days rodeo, affirming an identity rooted in the land itself.

As such, Gunnison acts progressively to conserve landscapes and landscape-based livelihoods. The OVPP Report advocated for supporting ranching as a heritage industry that brings aesthetic benefits that exceed the small percentage of jobs created by agriculture. Keeping open spaces between the Valley’s towns is seen as an attraction for tourists, which in turn generates jobs in a tourist economy and confirms again the value and prominence of that land-based identity.[2] Thus, groups like the Crested Butte Land Trust work to conserve viewscapes, habitat, and access through engagement with private landowners and the community. Conservation easements and land acquisitions throughout the Valley enable agriculturalists to continue working the land in the face of rising land values, taxes, and changing demographics.

Collaboration among ranchers and public land managers also sustains Gunnison’s agricultural industry. Created in 1905, the Gunnison National Forest has long provided the summer range for ranchers’ livestock. Today, about 82 percent of Gunnison County’s land is managed by federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and US Forest Service. Eight Wilderness Areas surround the Valley, protecting the mountaintops that store snow through the winter to feed the Gunnison, then Colorado, rivers in the spring and summer. A community collaboration effort, the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative, has brought together stakeholder groups from around the Valley to advocate for further conservation of these life-sustaining landscapes, both through designation of wilderness and through “special management areas” that seek to protect determined uses of public lands.

When residents in Gunnison talk about connecting to nature, many think first of the myriad ways they play on public lands. Not only do residents and visitors venture outside to mountain bike, hike, ski, paddle, and climb, but they can also be found photographing wildflowers, riding fat-tired bikes through snow, hunting trophy elk, and fishing for Kokanee salmon in Colorado’s largest body of water, Blue Mesa Reservoir. Land management agencies face challenges brought by competing recreational uses, increased tourism, intense overnight use brought by high housing prices, and desires to protect traditional livelihoods. Still, these challenges arise because both the people who pass through and those who linger for a week or a lifetime cherish these landscapes. As the documents contained herein show, behind every NEPA review, court case, development plan, monitoring project, and land use survey is an intense, vibrant, and deeply personal connection to place that is the spirit of Gunnison.

[1] One Valley Prosperity Project. “Gunnison Valley Community Values Report. Public Input Summary: Values Identification Phase.” June 2015. pp 4-5. Retrieved on April 1, 2018 from http://www.onevalleyprosperity.com/document/community-values-summary-report

[2] Colorado State University, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. “Economic Development Report.” August 2004. Retrieved on April 1, 2018 from http://www.rosemonteis.us/files/references/045544.pdf