Kayaking at 6000cfs

No other region in all of North America more richly combines both ecological and cultural diversity than does the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The range stands with its feet in the near-desert of the arid Rio Grande Valley and its head in the Alpine tundra of 13,000 ft peaks. Between those extremes lie as many as nine or ten discrete ecological zones.

Even more impressive, however, is the mix of cultures one finds in the area. The Pueblo Indians and their ancestors have made their homes here for at least 2,000 years, and for the last 400, they have shared their land with with the sons and daughters of Spanish-speaking pioneers from Mexico, and later, the governments and descendants of European colonists. (duBays, 1998)

The area in the Taos region, though economically depressed (one of the poorest counties in the second poorest state), offers tremendous opportunities for academic research with its cultural and historic wealth. The unsurpassed beauty of Taos County (pop. 30,900) attracts some of the world's ,ost brilliant artists and minds despite its remoteness.