{"id":42119,"date":"2022-02-18T15:33:02","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T22:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/san-juan-mountains-association-expands-ambassador-program-to-winter\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:05:14","slug":"san-juan-mountains-association-expands-ambassador-program-to-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/san-juan-mountains-association-expands-ambassador-program-to-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"San Juan Mountains Association expands ambassador program to winter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Hikers
Hikers make their way back to the parking area at Andrews Lake near Silverton on Saturday after an interpretive tour led by the San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s Snow Ambassador program. San Juan Mountains Association and San Juan National Forest are piloting the program this year to educate recreational users and mitigate some of the impacts of winter recreation. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s Forest Ambassador program has had success educating recreational users and mitigating some of the impacts of recreation on Southwest Colorado\u2019s public lands.<\/p>\n

Now, the nonprofit has extended a smaller version of the program into winter.<\/p>\n

San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s Snow Ambassador program hosts interpretive tours and assists winter users four days a week around Andrews Lake near Silverton. John Bozis, the lead and only snow ambassador, offers avalanche condition reports and trail suggestions while teaching users about the continued importance of Leave No Trace principles during the winter.<\/p>\n

In its first season, the Snow Ambassador program is already a hit helping users and the U.S. Forest Service minimize the footprint of winter recreation with immediate plans to expand the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Forest Ambassador program this past summer was really effective and smoothly implemented, and it just felt like a shame to put the whole thing on the shelf despite the fact that visitation was continuing through the winter,\u201d said David Taft, conservation director for San Juan Mountains Association.<\/p>\n

\"Erica
Erica Tucker, third from left, volunteer services director with the San Juan Mountains Association, talks with a group of snowshoers during a Snow Ambassadors interpretive tour Saturday near Molas Pass. The program operates Fridays through Mondays out of San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s Outdoor Research tiny house in the Andrews Lake parking area. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cIt kind of occurred to me: Let\u2019s see if we can take the momentum that we\u2019ve got from the summer and carry on through into the winter. Not only would that enable us to help out with some pretty clear objectives from the Forest Service, but it would also allow us to keep at least a couple of our staff on through the winter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Snow Ambassador program operates Fridays through Mondays out of San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s Outdoor Research tiny house in the Andrews Lake parking area.<\/p>\n

Bozis greets users when they arrive, providing reports about avalanche conditions for those planning to venture into the backcountry or friendly trail advice for new users who have never visited Andrews Lake before.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaturdays and Sundays are very busy, the lot gets nearly full, but Fridays and Mondays are pretty busy as well,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I would estimate 75 to 80% of the visitors in the area are from Durango and a fair amount of them are newer users. I really talk to folks about first of all avalanche conditions and being aware of the conditions, but (also) pointing people in the right direction for what they feel will work for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bozis aims to get out on the snow for a two-hour tour each day so he can meet visitors where they are, answering any questions and chatting with them to learn about where they are from, in part because the information helps the San Juan National Forest and the Forest Service better understand who is participating in winter recreation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really trying to connect with people out there, so they know that they have a reliable source out there that\u2019s in that area if they have questions or concerns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Bozis, program lead for the San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s Snow Ambassadors program, tends to a fire as he talks with a group of snowshoers after their interpretive hike. During the free interpretive tours, Bozis and partners from the Mountain Studies Institute use the snow as a segue into conversations about watersheds, forest health and climate change in the San Juans. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Every other Saturday, the Snow Ambassador program hosts free interpretive backcountry ski and snowshoe tours from 2 to 4 p.m. Bozis and partners from the Mountain Studies Institute lead visitors into the field where they can dig avalanche pits and use snow science kits to learn about snowpack.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows them where the layers are in the snow, and it is a timeline of the snow that we\u2019ve had in the last couple of months,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty eye-opening to the participants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bozis and partners from Mountain Studies Institute use the snow as a segue into broader conversations about watersheds, forest health and climate change in the San Juans.<\/p>\n

At the end of the tour, the group returns to the parking lot and the Outdoor Research tiny house where they can enjoy a fire and hot beverages such as cocoa and coffee.<\/p>\n

The tours have been popular with 20 to 30 participants joining, Bozis said.<\/p>\n

Much like its flagship summer stewardship program, San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s Snow Ambassadors program places an emphasis on education.<\/p>\n

Bozis spends much of his time making contact with visitors to share the continued importance of Leave No Trace ethics during the winter. Trash remains a problem, and he has noticed that fewer people pick up after their pets during the winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll those principles apply in winter as well as summer,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to do the same in the winter as we do in summer and educate folks, especially new users out there, about leaving no trace and pack it in, pack it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The San Juan Mountains Association started this year\u2019s pilot of the Snow Ambassador program after receiving additional funding and approaching San Juan National Forest about the project.<\/p>\n

\"Hikers
Hikers on an interpretive tour with the San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s Snow Ambassador program. At the end of the tour, the group returns to the parking lot and the Outdoor Research tiny house where they can enjoy a fire and hot beverages such as cocoa and coffee. Tours have been popular with 20 to 30 participants joining, said John Bozis, Snow Ambassador program lead. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Forest Service previously had its own winter outreach effort in San Juan National Forest in the late 1990s, but the program was intended to reduce conflict between snowmobilers and hikers and skiers, said Scott Owen, spokesman for San Juan National Forest.<\/p>\n

As those conflicts decreased, the Forest Service\u2019s own ambassador program went away, he said.<\/p>\n

San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s Snow Ambassador program replaces conflict management with education and interpretation to mitigate the impacts of recreation as more people flock to winter sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve heard for many years that both the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service were somewhat concerned with rising winter visitation and didn\u2019t really have a good plan for how to address it,\u201d Taft said.<\/p>\n

Winter is a delicate time for wildlife as they navigate the scarce winter months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got thousands of people out there recreating, it has a really significant impact on herd survival and success rates for some of our bigger ungulates (hoofed mammals such as elk and deer),\u201d Taft said.<\/p>\n

He said there has been some discussion about creating a winter travel management plan for the San Juan National Forest to help mitigate the impacts of recreation, though there are no concrete or immediate plans.<\/p>\n

The Snow Ambassador program will help collect some data about winter recreation so that if the national forest ever decided to create the plan, it would have more information to work with, he said.<\/p>\n

The genesis of the Forest Service\u2019s involvement was less about the impacts of winter recreation and more about the success of the summer Forest Ambassadors, Owen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided to increase (the ambassador program) to the winter, not because there\u2019s anything wrong, but just because there\u2019s been so much positive feedback,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot more people interested in winter recreation as Southwest Colorado grows and people get to know the opportunities that are afforded to them, whether that\u2019s snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, or snowmobiling. We just want to make sure that people are informed and educated about the rules and regulations concerning the forest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"After
After a San Juan Mountains Association Snow Ambassador hike on Saturday, a group of snowshoers gather around a fire in the parking lot at Andrews Lake. The Snow Ambassador program and its interpretive tours will run through March. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s Snow Ambassador program and its interpretive tours will run through March ahead of the spring and summer seasons. Training for Forest Ambassadors will begin in mid-May and by Memorial Day the crew will be out on the trails.<\/p>\n

Bozis will host the last tour on March 26, according to San Juan Mountains Association\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Participants can register for tours by visiting sjma.org\/events<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s pilot of the Snow Ambassador program has been so successful that San Juan Mountains Association has immediate plans to expand the program next year. The Pagosa District of the Rio Grande National Forest has expressed interest in expanding the program to Wolf Creek Pass, Taft said.<\/p>\n

With funding, one Snow Ambassador will travel the U.S. Highway 550 corridor and another will travel along U.S. Highway 160 helping winter recreation users.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been wildly popular,\u201d Taft said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t really sure how we would take off, but we\u2019ve had really great registration numbers (for the tours) and it seems like the community is really behind the effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

ahannon@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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