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COLORADO P"W77! R110 C 1( L K DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL DIVISION OF MINERALS & GEOLOGY Volume 8, Number 1 RESOURCES COLORADO GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Winter 2005 2004 —A Rewarding and Awarding Year for the CGS During 2004, work produced by the Sur- vey garnered a number of awards, of which we are very proud. Matt Morgan received the Colorado Scientific Soci- ety's Past President's Award for the Best Paper of 2004 for his presentation of From Buttes to Bowls: Repeated Inversions in the Landscape of the Colorado Piedmont, coauthored by Vince Matthews, Jon Thorson, Francisco Gutierrez, and Matt Grizzell. Vince Matthews took second place in the Luncheon Papers series of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists for Horsts and Grabens of Colo- rado's High Plains, coauthored by Matt Morgan. Case history of damage to a school building caused by differentially heaving bedrock, by Dave Noe was run- ner up for the Outstanding Paper Award of the American Society of Civil Engi- neers' Journal of Performance of Con- structed Facilities. The CGS publication Groundwater Atlas of Colorado was designated a "Notable Document" by the American Library Association's government publications experts. Only five other states had a doc- ument so designated. Also, in a review published in the journal Environmental Geology, Dr. Phillip Lamoreaux said, "It is truly one of the finest graphic presenta- tions of this type of information that the Edi- tor-in Chief of Environmental Geology is aware of It could be a guide for any agency in the world with the responsibility of com- municating with the general public as well as the scientific community in an area." Messages in Stone: Colorado's Colorful Geology was given the Association of Earth Science Editors' "Outstanding Book Award." Messages was also a Final- ist for the Colorado Book Award spon- sored by the Colorado Center for the Book and is being used as a text in eight colleges around the state. CGS ROCKTALK Vol. 8, No. 1 And finally, the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists gave a great tribute to the CGS through its 2004 Jour- nalism Award. Because they chose to recognize the entire agency and its record of publication, the full text of the citation follows: Breaking with a long - standing tradition, the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, for the first time, presents its 2004 Journalism Award to an organization instead of a single individual; and that is, the Colorado Geological Survey. The Sur- vey is being recognized for its long history of out- standing achievements in producing educational and highly informative publications for the pur- pose of increasing public understanding and aware- ness of the geology and mineral resources of the State of Colorado. This citation was inspired by a recent publication that goes well beyond the Sur- vey's statutory obligation and presents the geol- ogy of Colorado in a manner that appeals to an extremely broad public audience. The Colorado Geological Survey began its long history of disseminating information to the pub- lic in 1909 with the publication of the First Report, 1908 —a bulletin -style volume summa- rizing mineral resources in the Main Tungsten Area o f Boulder County and the Montezuma min- ing District of Summit County, as well as the geol- ogy of the Foothills Formation of Northern Colorado and the Hahns Peak Region in Routt County. In the nearly 100 years that have passed since that initial report, the Survey has issued more than 700 publications on such diverse top- ics as avalanche hazards, coal resources, earth- quake activity, fossil occurrences, engineering geology, land use review, environmental geology, water resources, gas and oil resources, general geol- ogy, geologic hazards, geothermal resources, min- eral resources, swelling soils and heaving bedrock. The Survey utilizes a wide range of formats and venues to promote public access to their work. In addition to the traditional paper -based format for reports, large -scale maps and cross sections, the Survey also embraces the ever popular CD -ROM technology for distribution of data- intensive stud- ies, all of which are easily accessed by the public via its Web site http: / /geosurvey.state.co.us. The Survey currently provides its annual Mineral and Mineral Fuel Activity Report and its quarterly RockTalk newsletter as free downloads from the Web site, as well as mailing over 15,000 printed copies free-of-charge each quarter. The Survey also utilizes venues such as the Colorado State Fair, Denver Gem and Mineral Show, professional and trade organization conferences, as well as lunch- eon talks to inform the public of its activities and availability o f publications. One particular publication stands out as a signif- icant tribute to the remarkable State of Colorado and the efforts of the Survey's geoscientists to unravel the mysteries of our complex geologic his- tory, entitled Messages in Stone (Special Publi- cation 52, 2003). This masterful compilation of text and illustrative photography brings the col- orful geology of Colorado alive for all audiences regardless of age or background. This outstand- ing volume was edited by Vincent Matthews, (now State Geologist), Katie KellerLynn, and Betty Fox. Representing a group effort, fort, contributing authors include (in alphabetical order) James Cappa, Gary Curtiss, Tom Hemborg, John Keller, Katie Keller - Lynn, Susan Landon, Vincent Matthews, Matt Morgan, David Noe, Pat Rogers, Matthew Sares, Beth Widmann, Laura Wray, and Knox Williams. The Colorado Geologic Survey's long- standing dedication to educating the public about the geol- ogy and mineral resources of the state provides an invaluable service not only to the citizens and pol- icymakers of Colorado, but also provides immeas- urable benefit to our neighboring states in the Rocky Mountain region. For this, the Rocky Moun- tain Association of Geologists is pleased to recog- nize the Colorado Geological Survey with its Journalism Award. .