Restoring the San Miguel River
- mikeballmedia
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
AloTerra’s Hands-on Approach to Healing Telluride’s Valley Floor
Nestled in the dramatic landscape of Telluride, Colorado, the San Miguel River is undergoing a profound transformation. Once choked by toxic mine tailings and stripped of its native vegetation, the river and its floodplain are now being restored to life by a dedicated team from AloTerra Restoration Services, in collaboration with Trout Unlimited, Medved Global, and local partners.
A River Reborn
“We’re in Telluride along the valley floor, working on the San Miguel River,” explains Mitch Meyer, Construction Program Manager and Lead Equipment Operator at AloTerra. “Basically, this was full of mine tailings. That all got removed, and the river was just kind of left to do its own thing. Nothing has been really growing, and it’s been eroding in bad ways.”
Now, that’s changing. AloTerra’s team is reintroducing life to the area through large-scale re-vegetation, soil enrichment, and habitat improvement. They’re creating new floodplains, shaping the river channel, and building willow trenches to help stabilize the soil and slow water flow allowing native plants to thrive once again.
“We’re laying down woodchips and something called Proganics, which is a biotic media,” Meyer says. “We’re also using Biosol and a new soil amendment called Ginate, made in collaboration with CSU in Fort Collins. It’s all about introducing organics back into the soil, because this space was completely dead.”
Thousands of Willows, Countless Hours
The project is ambitious in scale. Meyer notes that the team is planting over 8,000 plants, with around 6,000 of those being willows. “Mostly this is just going to be a beautiful meandering stream again that everyone can enjoy,” he adds.
Crew Lead Michael McGinley echoes that enthusiasm. “We’re creating benches with willows, which are native plants that really thrive here,” he says. “The idea is to redirect the floodplain and help the stream flow naturally. It’s just a beautiful area to work in, and we’ve got a great team. Everyone gets along really well.”
Learning by Doing
For many on the crew, this project has been both a challenge and an education. Jackson Fry, a Restoration Crew Member, shares how hands-on experience has deepened his understanding of ecological work.
“This is my first construction project,” he says. “We’re putting in willow trenches, digging down to the water level so the willows stay alive through the winter. It’s really beneficial to be out here learning how everything works so I can better inform our maps and projects through my GIS work later.”
Fry describes the project as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. “Bridal Veil Falls is right in the background. Just the chance to work on the San Miguel is something special.”
A Community Effort with Lasting Impact
While the restoration is technical work balancing soil chemistry, hydrology, and ecology, it’s also deeply community-oriented. Noah McGee, another AloTerra crew member, describes the public’s excitement firsthand.
“The community engagement’s been huge,” McGee says. “People are really supportive. They’ve seen constant construction here for years, and now they’re excited that we’re putting it back to a natural river. Everyone wants to see this area brought back to what it once was.”
Teamwork and Expertise
Across the board, the AloTerra team emphasizes collaboration and expertise. “It’s definitely a team effort,” Meyer notes.
“Most of the people at AloTerra have some kind of education in environmental science, forestry, or natural resources, but anyone with a passion for getting to work on our environment could find a place here. This love for what we do makes a big difference. We're not just doing a job, we're ensuring people can enjoy this place for long, long time into the future.”
Learn more about the San Miguel River Restoration Project: 🔗 Telluride Valley Floor River Restoration Initiative
