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--" The Nature l'J1 Conservancy. ')"~ SAVWO '"~ LAST aRIAJ PI..ACt5 ON EARTM "Working with partners to protect the San Nfiguel and Lower D%res Watersheds" Measures of Success The Nature Conservancy (TNC) recently completed a ten-year planning exercise called kfeaslIres (?f Success for its San Miguel and Dolores Rivers Project 111 Southwest Colorado. The scientific process targets key plant, anImal, and natural communities for conservation protection and identifies potential threats to those species or communities. Conservation actions are identified, and the status of tile targets and their threats are then monitored over a fivc- to ten-year period in order to gauge success, or \vhcther or not healthy viable populations arc being maintained. For example, with the completion of the McPhec Dam near the town of Dolores in 1985, flows in the Lower Dolores have declined significantly. Water runs below 20 cubic fect per second for most of the year. In 2002. the Dolores River Coalition, a nonprofit group of nearly 25 partner organizations, was formed with the mission of putting water back into the Lower Dolores. Dolores River Dialogue The Nature Conservancy and the Coalition are now working together with irrigators in a process called the Dolores River Dialogue to discuss innovative ways to improvc the aquatic and riparian habitat from McPhee Reservoir to the confluence of the Dolores with the Colorado River in Utah. TNC's specific goals for the Dolores include implementing an improved flow regime for dam releases which allow native species to persist. removing tamarisk and other non. native trees from the riparian belt, and protecting key private lands along the river with conservation casements. TNC believes that we can accomplish these goals while maintaining important agricultural and municipal uses for local communities. Saving the Natives TNC began a similarly large-scale project called Sal'ing the Nati\.es in 200 I to eradicate tamarisk from 100 miles of river or stream in the lower San Miguel River watershed by 2006. Other non-native trees like Russian olivc and Siberian elm arc removed at the same time to ensure that the diverse nativc riparian woodlands and shmblands do not decline due to competition with invasivc species. Our specific goals for the Dolores include implementing an improved flow regime for dam releases which allow native species to persist. .stateMwide updaJe. These weedy species have already been cleared from 40 miles of river by professional crews who do manual control using the cut-stump method, or by mechanical control with a Timber- Ax. Both methods involve the use of herbicide to prevent re-sprouting by safely and effectively killing the plant after it has been cut do"..n. Volunteers also contribute to the project by participating in volunteer work weekends held each September at the Conservancy's Tabeguache Preserve near Uravan, Colorado. To learn more about this project or The Nature Conservancy, please visit our websitc. Native riparian \.egetatiol1jlanking the San Afiglfel Ri\'er at The Nature Conservancy:.. Tabeglfache PreselTe.