The Colorado Plateau of the Southwestern US is a place of startling beauty, dramatic landforms, and rich human and ecological history. Round River begins its semester long field study program in Spring 2009.  Students will study the human and ecological history of the area, while engaging in issues that loom as big as the land. This program will bring students together with ranchers, farmers, Native Americans, politicians, academics, and environmentalists. We will delve into contemporary indigenous rights issues on and off the reservations, and will immerse students in the communities and the natural landscapes that define the heart of the American West.

The Colorado Plateau is a place of extreme climates and rough terrain that extends from Utah and Arizona into parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. The Colorado Plateau is not a single plateau, but rather a high elevation basin, filled with plateaus with names such as Coconino, Kaiparowits, Sevier, Tavaputs, and Aquarius. Its largely intact geomorphology lays out 500 hundred million years of history with unusual clarity. Its human history dates back 12,000 years. This region contains the highest concentration of national parks and monuments in the world including the Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, and Zion. It is home to twelve Native American tribes, and more than 200 rural communities. Few places on earth offer a landscape that is both as forbidding and seductive as the narrow canyons and majestic buttes of the arid southwest.

Conservation issues have defined this landscape since humans have inhabited it, and today, this region is facing some of the most intensive battles over land management in its history. The aesthetic and recreational appeal of this region has been swelling the surrounding metropolitan areas. Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City have all been growing at rates that lead the nation. Rural and Native American communities are also experiencing significant changes and each is defining its future as they grapple with social and environmental issues. Pressure from water development, oil and gas leasing, All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) recreation, grazing, logging, mining, tourism, and second home development, are squared off against proposals to protect these unique landscapes through wilderness, private land trusts, and other conservation measures.

Over this three-month program, students will earn 15 semester credit hours in courses such as Applied Conservation Biology, Field Methods, Natural History, Desert Ecology, and Land Management Policy. Students will gain an intimate knowledge of the land, its people, and the issues that are shaping each. Each participant will also leave their own mark on conservation on the Plateau by contributing to the knowledge base, which will guide future land use decisions. The Colorado Plateau is also certain to leave its imprint on students who discover a deeper sense of the wonders of this complex landscape.