{"id":58123,"date":"2013-07-31T23:02:59","date_gmt":"2013-08-01T05:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-boating-advocate-promotes-watershed-approach\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T16:06:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:06:56","slug":"new-boating-advocate-promotes-watershed-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-boating-advocate-promotes-watershed-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"New boating advocate promotes watershed approach"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lee-Ann
Lee-Ann Hill<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hill takes over from former program coordinator Jay Loschert , who recently moved from the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cJay did an incredible job, and I\u2019m looking forward to a strategic planning session with the board to see what the next chapter is,\u201d Hill said in an interview. \u201cI have a real passion for the river and I want to organize boaters to pursue common goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill promoted river health and compromise between users while working for San Juan Citizen\u2019s Alliance and the Dolores River Coalition. She has a background in ecology and is an experienced boater.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been doing conservation field work and environmental education so I was really attracted to this position. The name Dolores River Boating Advocates really says it all,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Mention a river and Hill turns loquacious as she expertly covers a range of river issues, from rafting flows and boating ethics to native fish habitat and endangered plants and animals.<\/p>\n

Her fluvial commentary focuses on sharing the river for recreation, science, agriculture and for overall wellbeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis day and age, compromise is the name of the game. I want to take a farmer boating who might not have ever had the chance or gear to do so. With the low water recently, I see opportunity to provide hiking tours of the lower canyons to educate the public about riparian health, wildlife and river ecology.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is impressed at the boating community\u2019s willingness to sacrifice the timing of rafting flows below the dam to better accommodate the habitat needs of native fish.<\/p>\n

\u201cReleasing earlier from the dam mimics more of a natural hydrograph that is more favorable to native fish. A release in early May is not the ideal time for boaters because it can be a lot colder weather so it shows they are taking a larger view of the river\u2019s needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advocating for boaters\u2019 interests is also a focus of the group. Rafting the lower canyons depends on releases from McPhee dam and reservoir. Working with reservoir managers to provide more predictable rafting flows that are compatible with fish needs will be a priority for Hill.<\/p>\n

Native fish in the river indicate a healthy ecosystem, Hill said, as does protecting threatened species in the river basin like the canyon tree frog and kachina daisy. Promoting a healthy environment is good for humans and wildlife, she says, adding that there is room for diverse interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have different perspectives and livelihoods that depend on the Dolores River, and the puzzle is to put it all together so we all benefit,\u201d Hill said. \u201cDolores Boating Advocates is a dynamic group. We take a watershed approach to the river and work with various users.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check out Dolores River Boating Advocates at http:\/\/doloresriverboating.org\/<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lee-Ann Hilldu1-i-syn Hill takes over from former program coordinator Jay Loschert , who recently moved from the area. \u201cJay did an incredible job, and I\u2019m looking forward to a strategic planning session with the board to see what the next chapter is,\u201d Hill said in an interview. \u201cI have a real passion for the river […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[44,188,13,1518],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-58123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores","tag-dolores-star","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-rivers"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58123"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62940,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58123\/revisions\/62940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58123"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=58123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}