A BLM Wildlands Outing Saturday, April 10, 2021 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM (Trailhead to Trailhead Times)
Sunset City Gulch is a little-visited, scenic canyon on the western end of Grape Creek, a proposed Wilderness awaiting Congressional action. We will gather in Cañon City at 8:45 AM and caravan to trailhead west of Royal Gorge. This moderate hike will begin at 9:30 AM and end at 3:30.
Bring lunch, snacks, water, clothing suitable for the weather conditions, and footwear suitable for on-trail hiking possibly in wet conditions. COVID-19 precautions will be maintained, so participants will be required to bring masks. Because of these precautions, no carpool is planned. Maximum 10 participants. For more information or to register for the hike, contact John Stansfield at 303-660-5849 or jorcstan@juno.com.
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunset City Gulch Hike 2018. Photo: Curt Nimz
Colorado Trail Indoor Outing
Wild Connections Board member Karl Ford recently presented on the Colorado Trail in the Wild Connections Area.
Karl is a Triple Crowner, having completed 8,000 miles on the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail long distance hikes. He has also one and a half completions of the Colorado Trail.
He showed slides of his 2020 250-mile hike along the Colorado Trail and discussed the status of protected and proposed Wilderness Areas and other Wild Connections activities along this segment of this world-class Trail.
In mid-January new rules regulating oil and gas development in Colorado went into effect increasing protection of 12.7 million acres of wildlife habitat across the state.
Go to Rocky Mountain Wild's story map and zoom in to Wild Connections region to see how this plays out here. When you turn the "old rules" and "new rules" on and off, you will be struck by the increase in protections for both the Arkansas and S. Platte tributaries and mainstems.
Wild Connections Climate Planning video
January 26, 2021 Zoom presentation
available on YouTube
Alison Gallensky presented Wild Connections approach to climate modeling and how various scenarios might play out in key locations in our region. View the 50 minute video at the left or go to YouTubehttps://youtu.be/EpEKzo9ay4k
Current Biodiversity modeling from Interactive Map. Click image to go to the map.
Interactive Map
The many data layers that are used in the climate planning project can be utrned on or off in the Interactive Map at
Wild Connections recognizes that our region is the acnestral lands of the Ute, Arapaho and Cheyenne peoples.
Virtual Journeys
Go to a roadless area
Fly Over Grape Creek Wilderness Area Threatened by proposed mining
EcoFlight will take you over the Grape Creek area where a mining company is proposing to mine various minerals. Already there are impacts from helicopter activity that droped in an exploratory drill rig and water was pumped out of Grape Creek to service the rig.
Arkansas Canyon Wild Areas
Fly over the exceptional wildlands in the Arkansas Canyon with EcoFlight
Wildcat Canyon
Take a short journey down to the South Platte River in Wildcat Canyon
Listen to a podcast
Bob Falcone talks with Jim Lockhart and John Stansfield. Click image to listen
Hiking With Bob podcast
John Stansfield and Jim Lockhart on
the CWA and CORE
They discuss the Colorado Wilderness Act and the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, and get into what the legislation’s will do, and their impact on outdoor recreation in Colorado. Listen to it at
Roger Wendell, host of KGNU's "Connections" radio broadcast, and Jim Lockhart, WC president, talk about Wild Connections' conservation work. Go to https://www.kgnu.org/connections and scroll down to December 4, 2020.
View a webinar or film
President L. B. Johnson signs the Wilderness Act at the White House, September 3, 1964 Photo Wilderness Watch.org . Click above to go to the video.
Celebrate the Birthday of the Wilderness Act with Prose & Poetry A Wild Connections 25th Anniversary Indoor Outing
"Celebrating the 56th Anniversary of The Wilderness Act" with readings by Wild Connections members is onYouTube. Hear from Howard Zahniser, Aldo Leopold, W. E. B DuBois, Richard Nelson, Edward Abbey, Mardy Murie and Terry Tempest Williams, and Wendell Berry.
View of james Peak, Samuel Seymour 1820
First Known Man’s and Woman’s Ascents of Pikes Peak John Stansfield, Storyteller and Writer, recounts the fascinating history of the early adventurers on Pikes Peak. Ute people, Edwin James of the Long Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and Julia Archibald coming west with her family are featured.
Click the image to go to the YouTube video
Celebrate 25 years of protecting wildlands in central Colorod
Explore some of Wild Connections' history and accomplishments with photos and maps.
Wild Connections' mission is to identify, protect, and restore wildlands, native species, and biological diversity in the Arkansas and South Platte watersheds. They are the ancestral lands of the Ute, Cheyenne, Arapaho and other indigenous peoples.
