This is a project-based course, partnered with Colorado Blueprint and the Colorado state Office of Economic Development and International Trade to grow outdoor industry and recreation economies in small communities. You will work closely with stakeholders in a real-world project, serve as consultants to organizations and communities, conduct the analysis, and deliver a final product…
This project is worth 65% of your semester grade.
— From the CU course description for ENVS 6302: Sustainable Landscapes, Sustainable Livelihoods
A group of students from the University of Colorado arrived in Pagosa Springs earlier this week to help our local elected leaders better understand our community’s business potential, which — if we are to accept the findings from this group of young scholars — are significant. And potentially profitable.
The Powerpoint presentation delivered to the Tuesday, December 18 joint meeting of the Pagosa Springs Town Council and the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners was titled, “Pagosa Springs Outdoor Recreation Economic Assessment: Evaluating & Activating Primary Job Creation.” The presenters represented candidates from the ‘Masters of the Environment’ (MENV) degree program and the ‘Masters of Business Administration’ (MBA) degree program at the University of Colorado in Boulder — a school which, for some reason, refers itself as “CU” rather than “UC.”
The “CU” logo appeared on the slideshow images alongside the logo for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, more commonly known as OEDIT.
From the class project description:
These are real issues faced currently by communities. You will interact with community members and a variety of stakeholders. You will be representing the University of Colorado, the Masters of the Environment Graduate Program, Leeds School of Business, and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. Please conduct yourselves professionally in all aspects throughout all interactions… We not only want to make a good impression, but we also want to highlight your skills and abilities to operate as professionals…
Yes, outdoor recreation is a real issue, faced by real communities. We will begin this story by acknowledging that, without outdoor recreation — golf, snowmobiling, skiing, hiking, fishing, hunting, rafting, and more-recently-popular recreational pursuits such as pickleball and disc golf — Pagosa Springs as we know it would not exist.
Pagosa Springs, as we know it.
Warts and all.
I will also disclose, right off the bat, that this editorial is going to explore the theory that too much of a good thing is not a good thing. (As I’ve done, occasionally, in the past.)
At the same time, I’d like to tip my hat to the students and to Professor Joel Hartter for taking on a very complex, real-world project. As some Daily Post readers know, I serve on the board of the Pagosa Peak Open School, which is currently developing a Project-Based Learning (PBL) curriculum based on real-world projects. The real world, as it really exists, is a fine thing to study. In my humble opinion.
From Professor Hartter’s syllabus:
The nation’s public lands are central to the economy, and, in many ways, our national identity. Public land uses, such as energy and natural resource extraction, agriculture and ranching, and outdoor recreation activities, serve as important economic drivers in communities all over the country. However, population pressures, and economic and policy transitions are disrupting conceptions and uses of public landscapes.
At the same time, Colorado’s outdoor recreation economy generates $28 billion in consumer spending annually and contributes 229,000 direct jobs. As a result, the ways of life in many communities and industries, whose futures are intertwined with these lands, are dramatically affected as well.
This course will focus on communities, public lands and the connection to recreation economies.
The student visits to Pagosa and other communities were partly funded by, and endorsed by, Blueprint 2.0 — a project designed by OEDIT. Local communities were invited to apply for various types of grants, to be used to enhance local economic conditions. Pagosa Springs was one of the 2018 grant recipients, and our grant promised to help “Grow Your Outdoor Recreation Industry.”
MENV, working closely with the Leeds Outdoor Industry Club (LOIC), will assign a team to work with each community to better understand their resources, strengths, and weaknesses. This team will work to identify opportunities in the growing Colorado outdoor recreation landscape and assist in positioning each community in the marketplace to improve reach and impact.
The Masters of the Environment [MENV] is a 17-month professional graduate degree program designed for students who would like to work in the environmental sector after graduation. MENV graduates will apply interdisciplinary knowledge and build community in ways that achieve fair and effective solutions to environmental, economic, and social problems and promote thriving human and natural communities.
Archuleta County consists of three basic land ownership types. About 49 percent of the county is public lands. About 31 percent is private lands. And about 14 percent is controlled by the Southern Ute Tribe, as a semi-independent nation.
The public lands are used for various purposes, including recreation. More about that breakdown, later.
From the class syllabus:
Communities applied to Blueprint and were selected based on their capacity and readiness. They are all interested in growing their outdoor and recreation economies in their communities, but have different ideas about what this could look like. Your task as a group is to work with your client in a short amount of time to scope an appropriate and manageable project that serves the client’s needs…
In many cases, the communities and clients won’t exactly know what they want. Some of the communities may have more abstract ideas, and some communities may have more “shovel-ready” projects.
So, does Pagosa Springs know what it wants?
Are we asking for things that will help our community become the place we’ve always wanted to live in?
Or just the opposite?
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.