• Informal Comment Period and Other Taylor Park AMG Updates

    The 2024 SBEADMR/Taylor Park EA combined meeting was in mid-February, followed by the winter Taylor Park AMG meeting – thanks to those who could join!

    While the unofficial “comment” period is over, we invite all interested in engaging in Forest Service decision-making around the Taylor Park Vegetation Management Project to contact taylorparkamg@western.edu, consider joining our public outreach sub-committee, and attend future events! In particular, our group is interested in input from the following stakeholder groups: representatives from mining interests, recreational outfitters/guides/organizations, and fisheries professionals.

    Learn more about the Taylor Park Vegetation Management Project, including presentations, meeting recordings, and information about how to comment!

  • Free Workshop Series: Introduction to U.S. Forest Service Inventory Data and Tools

    March 28 + April 4, 11, 18, 25 (Thursdays) from 1-3 MDT!

    This workshop will provide an overview and some depth into data and tools that are developed and widely used by the U.S. Forest Service: the Forest Inventory and Analysis database (FIADB), the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS), and TreeMap. The data and tools covered by the course are freely available to the public. Therefore, it is not necessary to be part of the U.S. Forest Service to use them; they are widely used by other government agencies, NGOs, academia, and private entities.

    Email courtney.king@western.edu for more information/to RSVP!

  • Multiple Job Opportunities Now Available

    Click Here

  • 2024 Fellowship Opportunities

    The Center for Public Lands partners with a number of organizations and agencies to provide fellowship opportunities for students in Western Colorado University’s Master in Environmental Management and Master of Science in Ecology programs, as well as Western’s undergraduate Environment and Sustainability major and Public Lands emphasis. For additional fellowship opportunities with Western’s Masters of Environmental Management, visit the program’s website.

    See Fellowship Opportunities

  • Wilderness RX Synthesis Paper Now Available.

    The Center for Public Lands in partnership with the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute is releasing a synthesis paper titled Prescribed Fire and U.S. Wilderness Areas: Barriers and Opportunities for Wilderness Fire Management in a Time of Change. The paper brings together research and the discussions of fire and wilderness experts from the Wilderness and Fire Workshop held in Gunnison, CO in December 2022.

    Wilderness RX Synthesis Paper Click HERE.

The Center for
Public Lands

at Western Colorado University is a community of thoughtful future leaders who have come together from diverse fields to share expertise and collaborate on thorny public lands and natural resources challenges.

Recent Events

Featured
Registration is Open for the 2024 Partners in the Outdoors Conference

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Partners in the outdoors Conference

April 15 - 17, 2024 Breckenridge Colorado.

TEMPORARY Policy and Planning Associate – Hybrid

CPW’s Policy and Planning section supports development of parks, wildlife and outdoor recreation policies and plans.

The Policy and Planning section is seeking a temporary Policy and Planning Associate to help with a variety of high priority planning, policy, and public involvement projects. This temporary, entry-level position is full-time (40 hrs/week) for up to nine months.

A Most Excellent River Science Research Journey

A Most Excellent River Science Research Journey

Ellen's research has covered 3 decades and 100s of papers on many topics, but she will focus her presentation on 11 milestone papers that cover her and her many co-author's most recent research and contributions to understanding the functions/values of floodplains, the wood regime, beaver, and process-based restoration. Juli will cover papers she is the lead author on these same topics. For those of you who are ambitious readers, attached is a memo that lists the papers that will be covered.

We work closest with Western’s MS in Ecology and Master in Environmental Management degrees.

Our goal is to complement student academic requirements by providing structured workforce training and applied project opportunities with a variety of employers such public lands agencies or non-profits.

Western faculty + Center for Public Lands staff have cultivated a network of partners excited to work with students on immersive, applied projects.

Student projects have included working with remote cameras to monitor and study backcountry winter recreation patterns to help the community of Crested Butte better understand recreation use patterns, or monitor invasive species in designated wilderness areas for the U.S. Forest to improving carbon sequestration on private rangelands.