Photo Credit: Nathaniel Minor/CPR News

LERS is cosponsoring a unique 3-day field trip to Colorado’s San Luis Valley in association with the 2025 World Conference. The trip is being facilitated in partnership with SWCA, The Nature Conservancy in Colorado, Colorado State University Extension, National Park Service, and the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. Southern Colorado’s vast San Luis Valley is one of the largest alpine valleys in the world, with the headwaters of the Rio Grande River to the west and the 14,000-foot peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range to the east.  During the field trip, we will visit a variety of locations all demonstrating multi-use land management, ranging from national parks and wildlife refuges to private agricultural lands. We will discuss the Valley’s amazing natural history, its complex recent past, the challenges it faces today, and examples of work being done to make positive changes for the future. We will visit a spectrum of habitats, including the highest sand dunes in North America, semi-arid high desert scrub forests, dryland sage scrub, prairie, and a variety of wetlands. The trip will include guest speakers providing insights on various topics, as well as time for casual exploration and recreation. Topics may include land management, restoration/revegetation, buffalo grazing, potential co-management, Tribal engagement, keystone species, endangered species, flyway migration, rewilding, dust on snow, watershed management, and human/nature interface. In addition to the amazing learning and exploration opportunities, this trip will create a space for relationship building ahead of the conference, making the world feel a little smaller and connected. As of August 10th, we have 22 participants from around the world joining the trip, with room for more. We have people joining the trip from Ghana, South Korea, Germany, Australia, Mauritania, Nepal, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. For more details and registration options, can be found here: Field Trip to Colorado’s San Luis Valley – SER2025 (30 September – 4 October 2025)