New Page 1

On Saturday, November 2^nd, with screwdrivers in hands, boy scouts from Durango’s troop 538 twisted wire separators onto half a mile of elk-friendly fencing that is intended to fence cattle out of the immediate vicinity of the Animas River. These finishing touches brought a close to the first phase of a two-phase river restoration project on

the James Ranch, north of Durango. As his Eagle Scout project, Peter Wolke (14) coordinated the volunteer group that helped put the fence up. In total, the group put in well over 100 human-hours of work into the project that included planning, pacing off fence posts, pounding in fence posts, and putting wire separators on.

Wolke is looking forward to working on the second phase of the project with his close friend and fellow scout, Joseph Ortega (15), who will be coordinating planting of cottonwoods, willows, river birch and other wetland plants in the spring as his Eagle Scout Project. Both scouts are looking forward to the day a few years from now when they can return to see how they helped enhance a property for the benefit of wildlife. Troop leader, Richard Brown, was impressed with the magnitude and importance of the project.

Dan James was a boy scout himself and has been teaching the scouts not only about fencing, but also about wetland and stream ecology. During the project, the scouts have learned about wetland-associated plants, beaver, responsible grazing, and restoration. It is expected that within one year, the riparian wetland will be well on its way to recovery. Within five years, it should be supporting a wide diversity of wetland dependent wildlife species and serve as a prime example of how rapidly riparian wetlands can recover.

The San Juan Committee of Habitat Partnership Program (a program of the Colorado Division of Wildlife) provided the fencing materials, and the Southwest Wetlands Focus Area Committee coordinated the groups involved with the project with help from the San Juan Mountains Association..


Landowner, Dan James (middle), talks to Boy Scouts, Peter Wolke (left) and Joseph Ortega (right), in mid-September about his goals for the wetlands and where he wants the fence.	Dan James explains to the scouts how to pound metal fence posts.

Joseph Ortega (left) and Peter Wolke (right) put in the first metal post.	Tom Dunn, father of scout, Matt Dunn lends a hand.

Three elk (far, far center on left side of fence) are already on the wetland side, separated from the cattle on the right side of the fence.	Drew Dalenburg (left) and Peter Wolke (right) twist wire separators on the fence.

Beginning views, such as this one, will be compared to the same views in years to come.	Landowner, Dan James, talks to Boy Scout troop 538 about the ecology of the riparian wetland.

After the fence is in place, Catherine Ortega,coordinator of the Southwest Wetlands Focus Area, shares the moment with Peter Wolke.