THE TELLURIDE INSTITUTE

Rocky Mountain News called us “the World’s highest altitude think tank.”  Others have called us a “think-and-do-tank” because of the practical, hands-on, results-oriented nature of our programs.  We work both locally and globally.

Locally, we are working to inspire and inform a growing group of citizens and help turn them into stewards who care for and protect their surroundings and do business with the health of the San Miguel Watershed in mind. The Watershed is a one million acre basin through which flows the San Miguel River, from its headwaters in the 14,000 foot alpine peaks above Telluride to its confluence with the Dolores River in red rock canyon country at 5,000 feet elevation. Over 60% of the San Miguel Watershed is public land, including some of the nation’s most beautiful and biologically intact landscapes. But there are many pressures on these high, dry, fragile ecosystems, as the Watershed is also one of the two fastest growing areas on the Colorado Plateau, facing tremendous growth and change.

In response to these pressures and to Wallace Stegner’s challenge to Westerners to “build a society to match the scenery,” Telluride Institute has developed major programs, Sense of Place and Deep West Futures, which act strategically to inform and equip local communities with the institutions and tools to care for these

We have been very successful at being a germinator – turning creative ideas into solid, practical organization that later becomes independent institutions.