The Greater San Juan Partnership sells a combative
bumpersticker – -Keep It Country!’ – and a collaborative message:
Newcomers and old-timers can work together to preserve the rural
character of the southern Rockies. The fledgling partnership takes
its inspiration from the San Juan Mountains watershed, which board
member Todd Murchison calls the largest unspoiled place left in the
West. However, he says, this 17-county area straddling northern New
Mexico and southern Colorado may gain 20,000 residents in the next
five years. In one of its first projects, the partnership surveyed
230 randomly selected residents, and 69 percent agreed that the
land “is being diminished because of how it is being developed.”
Sixty-four percent said they would like to see the size and number
of towns in the region stay the same or decrease. “(The survey)
surprised us,” says Murchison. “People I thought would be
absolutely pro-growth weren’t, like real estate developers.” The
partnership seeks more partners, including tribal and Hispanic
groups. Otherwise, says Murchison, “It’s pretty arrogant for mostly
middle-class white people to say, “We want it preserved.” ” Write
the Greater San Juan Partnership at P.O. Box 2494, Taos, NM
87571.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Partners for an unspoiled place.
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