+.ABOUT +.APPALACHIA +.BRITISH.COLUMBIA +.CURRENT.RIVER +.GREAT.SAND.DUNES +.SVALBARD +.TALLGRASS.PRAIRIE +.WRANGELL +.YAMPA.RIVER
GREAT SAND DUNES
COLORADO
CONSERVATION HISTORY
In 1989 American Water Development, Inc., planned to spend $150 million to drill 100 wells and pipe water from the rural San Luis Valley to the Denver suburbs, more than 100 miles away, threatening the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. The 30-square-mile main field of 700-foot-tall dunes lies a few miles southeast, lapping against the Sangre de Cristos. Over the centuries, westerly winds have blown across the valley and funneled through three mountain passes, dropping sand gathered from an ancient lake that once filled the valley at their base. Creeks that flow out of the Sangre de Cristos feed the sand back to the dune field ensuring the dunes' stability.
AWDI project would lower the water table, the creeks would dry up, and the dunes would be lost, taking six species found only there.
Local group Citizens for San Luis Valley Water and many others campaigned against this project and won. That victory was just the first of dozens that would not only stop the water project, but lead to the creation of a national park, a wildlife refuge, and as of December 2012, the protection of more than half a million acres of land extending south almost to New Mexico.
In October 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) announced the transfer of approximately 9,362 acres of land at TNC’s Medano-Zapata Ranch Preserve in the San Luis Valley to the National Park Service (NPS) for inclusion in Great Sand Dunes National Park. This is the latest chapter of a land conservation project that began decades ago.
MY VISIT IN APRIL 2024
This location was the most profound visit of my trip west across the United States. Driving over the Rt. 160 pass, I traveled through a stunning foggy and frozen landscape before descending into the San Luis Valley. As the landscape opens up, the dunes grow into view.
Upon entering the park I gathered my gear as a storm front swirled around the dunes. This storm hung around long enough to give me a wonderful opportunity to experience and photograph the land. Within an hour rain started to fall, and I headed to my lodging. This would be the first time since Virginia I would spend multiple nights in one location, and have a room with running water.
As the sun set, I was in awe of the scale and beauty of the land. The colors shifted from pinks and purples to blues across the valley, with the sand shining until the last light.
The following day I woke up, and the creek had yet to run. I spent the day photographing and exploring the landscape. I fondly remember standing on a sand dune, and smelling what I can only guess to be pine trees from the neighboring mountains. It was a truly surreal experience for someone who has lived their life in New England. This place is sacred.
On day two I awoke to news that the creek started to flow! The luck and fateful timing of my visit was not lost on me. I rushed down and photographed areas that I had scouted the day before. With the mountains and growing lengths of the days, there was only a 2-hour window in which my process would work until the mid-day light flattened out the images. I gratefully captured what I could, and recorded the sounds of the water flowing.
Upon packing my gear back into my Outback and preparing to head to the Yampa River, I felt as though I could happily spend years photographing this location. And perhaps I will.
SOURCES
“Shifting Grounds”
Nature Conservancy Magazine
May / June 2013
“Great Sand Dunes National Park Is Growing”
October 05, 2022 | Colorado
LINK TO ARTICLE
IMAGES FROM ON THE ROAD
