The sign at the trailhead stated: "Beware of mountain lions." Next to it another sign was posted that warned about the dangers of and correct behavior in a bear encounter.
I paused before I passed the sign to officially enter the Continental Divide Trail: one of America's longest and most challenging trails. The view of ragged peaks beyond a major highway was a reminder of just how physically close but experientially far I was going from my office around the Denver metropolis. Here on the Continental Divide Trail, mountain lions, bears, wolves--and even the occasional wolverine--are as welcome along the trail as hikers. Maintaining a healthy environment for hikers to pass through requires supporting diverse wildlife populations.
It requires supporting the entire ecosystem--not just a niche--at the largest scale possible. "We're interested in the integrity of the whole landscape," said Teresa Martinez, director of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition. "The trail experience is about being in wild spaces, and for that we need to protect both the landscape and the wildlife within it by connecting protected areas." Martinez's nonprofit organization is the lead national nonprofit partner that works with the US Forest Service to manage, maintain, and protect the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). Increasingly, the CDT and other trails are seen not just as recreational ventures but as conservation tools that may connect disparate habitats.
Connections are crucial to successful conservation. Worldwide, according to the global database statistics of the World Conservation Monitoring Center, only 5 per cent of protected areas are larger than 35,000 acres. That may be large enough to sustain the interactions of, say, a small seasonal population of monarchs and their milkweed food source, but is hardly enough area to protect the migrating monarch phenomenon, or even enough habitat for a single female grizzly bear. And in the model of protected areas in the U.S., where hard boundaries are drawn between "nature" and "urban" areas, such animals are in danger whenever they stray from the boundary lines.
Wide-ranging migrating wildlife cannot easily be contained in these spaces. Wolverines, for instance, are elusive, sensitive to disturbance, and habitually travel vast distances. They have been known to roam over 1,400 km2 in search of food and mate, according to the Wolverine Foundation. They can only persist in certain conditions too--areas with heavy snowpack and deep interior "intact" forests. The right conditions in the right quantity aren't always found within a single National Park, Forest, or Wilderness Area. And climate change threatens to disrupt most habitats, which will force many animals to change locations.
The Continental Divide Trail may have ways of helping species like the wolverine. Stretching a total of 3,100 miles, from the New Mexico-Mexico border to the Montana-Canada border, the Trail traverses some of the wildest 25 National Forests, 3 National Parks, 8 BLM Resource Areas and 21 National Wilderness Areas in the US--areas where wildlife sightings are common. This trail, which crosses through so many prime habitat locations, may provide additional protection for animals across a range of habitats in a manner that is not as forcefully bounded as are singular protected areas.
With continued protection of lands along the Continental Divide Trail, coupled with other conservation efforts along the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide, wolverines are more likely to find usable habitat across a range of locations, which increases their change of survival.
The Continental Divide Trail is not the only example of such innovative, connective conservation. Throughout the U.S., there are 11 National Scenic and 17 National Historic Trails, totaling 33,000+ miles of trails that spiderweb across the nation and pass through most major U.S. protected areas. These trails have the potential to provide necessary connectivity between areas of strict conservation protection for some species of animals--at least those that don't mind sharing the land with recreationists.
The maintenance and promotion of national trails creates opportunities to expand the conservation benefits of already-protected areas of National Parks, Forests and Wilderness Areas.
"In an ever fragmented environment, these protected areas are independently significant," says Marian Orlousky, Northern Resource Management Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic region of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, "but when linked together, they become even more valuable." The Appalachian Trail has been working on land protection and connectivity issues for years. As one of the oldest footpaths in the United States, Appalachian Trail has a long history of conservation-minded caretakers who have taken an active role in ecological planning. Like the Continental Divide Trail, the Appalachian Trail creates an enjoyable hiking experience while also allowing for a degree of connection for wildlife between otherwise isolated protected areas.
"Species are less likely to become genetically isolated and are more likely to be able to successfully shift ranges in response to changing climates," adds Orlousky, "when such a corridor is available."
But with all trails open to human influence via hiking, and some open to uses like biking and horseback riding as well, they're not the perfect wildlife bridges. Some wildlife cannot handle such close proximity to humans. This is especially tricky in areas where the corridor of lands surrounding the trails is only a couple hundred feet wide. Trails also do not necessarily follow the natural, historic migration routes of wildlife.
Still, with the pressures of urban development, and historic habitat giving way to roads and homes, sometimes wildlife must choose among less-than-ideal migration situations. Acquiring lands and conservation easements to prevent urban sprawl in key areas is a high priority for wildlife advocates and trail agencies alike.
Having the funds to act quickly when key lands come to market is, then, a necessity--but how can the already-skinny wallets of the Forest Service's and Park Service's keep up?
One way is through a federal program called the Land and Water Conservation Fund. For the past 50 years, this federal program has allowed oil and gas projects in the US to give a portion of their earnings to permanently protect public areas like national trails. Up for renewal on September 30, this successful program has an uncertain future. Extension and full funding are yet to be guaranteed.
In a posting on Continental Divide Trail Coalition's Facebook page, Teresa Martinez encouraged the community to call their congresspeople and support the program's renewal. "This is critical for the future of the National Scenic and Historic Trails system and the hikers who use it," said Martinez.
It may be vital for the mountain lions, bears and wolverines as well. In 2009, a wolverine dubbed "M56" that was tracked with a radio collar became the first observed wolverine in Colorado in a hundred years. As organizations like the Continental Divide Trail Coalition continue to support land conservation and holistic ecosystem protection along the Continental Divide, they're providing chances for animals like M56 to find habitat that's more amenable to mobility than intense development.
Other animals have likely done the same, marking a new and exciting chapter in conservation. But maintaining and creating a network of wildlife connectivity corridors will continue to take a lot of work and a large network of community organizations, nonprofits, land trusts, and all levels of government agencies.
The payoff is worthwhile.
"This is our Trail," says Martinez, "and this is our generation's turn to be a part of a conservation legacy."