PRESS RELEASE
August 30, 2026
Fat Marmot Week Crowns a Chunky Champion: The Marmot Who Packed on the Most Weight Also Won the Public’s Heart
GOTHIC, Colo. — The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Marmot Project’s first-ever Fat Marmot Week has crowned a single Chunky Champion: Dawn, who both gained the most weight out of the eight Fat Marmot Week contestants and won the public vote. Dawn’s weight-gain title was announced Saturday, Aug. 29, on the RMBL Marmot Project’s Instagram page, and the public-vote win was announced Sunday, Aug. 30.
Dawn defeated G in the final round of public voting on Friday, Aug. 28, receiving 3,734 votes to G’s 2,437, or nearly 61% of the 6,171 votes cast during the championship round. A total of 23,060 votes were cast during the weeklong competition, which invited the public to choose the marmot they thought best exemplified healthy preparation for hibernation.
The public’s favorite also packed on the most weight.
The Marmot Project researchers determined that Dawn also gained the most weight over the summer, increasing from about 8.5 pounds (3.9 kg) to 13 pounds (5.9 kg) — a gain of about 4.5 pounds (2 kg), or just over half of his starting body weight.
“Dawn’s weight gain is impressive, and critical for his survival over the winter. When marmots spend eight months underground, they really rely on those fat reserves to sustain them until flowers start blooming again in May or June,” said RMBL Marmot Project researcher Katie Adler, a PhD candidate at UCLA.
For yellow-bellied marmots, getting fat is a serious business. Marmots spend much of the summer eating grasses and wildflowers and can roughly double their body weight before entering hibernation, which can last between seven and eight months. The fat they accumulate provides the energy they need to survive the winter and emerge the following spring.
“It’s fun to root for the chunkiest marmot, but behind the fun and games is a deathly serious competition against nature to pile on fat to survive the long, cold winter,” said Dan Blumstein, PhD, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA and co-director of the RMBL Marmot Project alongside University of Ottawa professor Julien Martin. “And these days, with less predictable weather and wild fluctuations in snowfall, survival is not guaranteed. Importantly, marmots give us a window on the health of high-alpine ecosystems.”
The results of Fat Marmot Week offer a playful introduction to research that has been anything but short-lived. Established in 1962 by University of Kansas professor Dr. Kenneth Armitage at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Gothic, Colorado, the Marmot Project is the world’s second-longest-running study of individually marked wild mammals, second only to Jane Goodall’s famous chimpanzee research at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. Researchers have followed individual yellow-bellied marmots from birth to death, building decades of data on their behavior, social relationships, survival, and responses to environmental change.
PRESS RELEASE
July 27, 2026
RMBL Marmot Project Launches Inaugural Fat Marmot Week
GOTHIC, Colo. — The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) Marmot Project will host its first-ever Fat Marmot Week Aug. 24-29, inviting the public to celebrate one of the Rocky Mountains’ most charismatic residents while learning the science behind its annual weight gain.
Established in 1962 at RMBL’s campus outside Crested Butte, Colorado, the RMBL Marmot Project is one of the world’s longest-running studies of individually marked wild mammals. Decades of research have helped scientists better understand yellow-bellied marmots’ behavior, social relationships, and survival in alpine ecosystems.
Fat Marmot Week is a lighthearted, tournament-style event that highlights the remarkable transformation yellow-bellied marmots undergo each summer as they feed almost constantly on grasses and wildflowers, roughly doubling their body weight in preparation for about five months of hibernation.
“It’s fun to root for the chunkiest marmot, but behind the fun and games is a deathly serious competition against nature to pile on fat to survive the long, cold winter. And these days, with less predictable weather and wild fluctuations in snowfall, survival is not guaranteed. Importantly, marmots give us a window on the health of high-alpine ecosystems,” says Dan Blumstein, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA and co-director (with University of Ottawa professor Julien Martin) of the RMBL Marmot Project.
The public can meet this year’s contestants beginning July 27. Voting opens Aug. 24 at sites.google.com/view/fatmarmotweek, where participants can vote for the marmot they think best exemplifies healthy hibernation preparation. Final-round voting takes place Aug. 28, and the chunky champion will be crowned Aug. 29, 2026.
Media Notes:
Media Contact: Suzanne Ennis, RMBL Communications Manager. Email: suzanne@rmbl.org
Digital press kit with images available to download here
Interviews with RMBL scientists are available upon request.
Learn more about the RMBL Marmot Project here. Follow @rocky_mountain_bio_lab and @rmblmarmotproject on Instagram for updates.
About the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
Founded in 1928, the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) is an independent nonprofit field station located at 9,500 feet above sea level in Gothic, Colorado. RMBL maintains one of the world’s most extensive collections of long-term ecological data and supports more than 190 professional scientists and 60 graduate students each year while engaging more than 750 K-12 students and 40 undergraduates through its educational programs. Learn more about RMBL at rmbl.org.
PRESS RELEASE
May 27, 2026
RMBL Launches Data Hub, a Groundbreaking Platform to Accelerate Environmental Research in the Colorado River Basin
A “one-stop shop” of new tools powered by AI, remote sensing, and decades of field data aims to bolster resilience in the face of climate-driven challenges, including drought, wildfire, and ecosystem degradation
GOTHIC, Colorado (May 27, 2026) – The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) this week unveiled the RMBL Data Hub, a suite of powerful new tools designed to support environmental research and policy in the Gunnison Basin, a critical headwater of the Colorado River. Engineered by RMBL staff in collaboration with students from Western Colorado University, the Data Hub makes a century of RMBL’s environmental research more accessible than ever to researchers, policymakers, and the public.
The Hub — now publicly available at data.rmbl.org — includes three innovative components:
- Spatial Data Platform (SDP) Browser
Described as “a living digital twin” of the Gunnison Basin, this browser-based tool allows users to explore terabytes of environmental data in an intuitive map interface. The SDP Browser hosts:
- Drone imagery
- LiDAR maps of topography and vegetation
- Climate and snow data for the Gunnison Basin
- Knowledge Commons
A research database that aggregates thousands of scientific papers, datasets, and environmental reports relevant to the Gunnison Basin. Using cutting-edge AI, the Knowledge Fabric links concepts, people, species, and other entities across documents, enabling researchers to discover unexpected connections and datasets for their work. - Compute Hub
A hosted environment for scientific computing that provides easy access to RMBL’s environmental datasets. Rather than downloading large files, researchers can analyze data close to where it lives in cloud storage.
“We built the Data Hub to accelerate environmental research as Colorado deals with unprecedented environmental change,” says Ian Breckheimer, RMBL principal research scientist and project lead. “The tools in the Hub allow researchers to take full advantage of decades of detailed environmental field measurements, as well as new ways of knowing enabled by remote sensing and artificial intelligence. It’s our intent that the Hub become part of the essential infrastructure for increasing the resilience of our ecosystems and our communities to drought, fire, and other challenges.”
The Data Hub is the first step of a longer-term effort at RMBL to expand critical environmental research in the headwaters of the Colorado River and better link a century of accumulated RMBL scientific knowledge to communities both downstream and nationwide.
“RMBL has spent nearly 100 years building one of the most important long-term ecological datasets in the Rocky Mountains,” says Jeni Blacklock, PhD, executive director of RMBL. “The Data Hub represents a major step forward in making data more accessible, collaborative, and actionable for scientists, educators, communities, and decision makers. RMBL is helping create the scientific infrastructure needed to better understand and respond to rapid environmental change across the Colorado River Basin and beyond.”
Major support for the RMBL Data Hub was provided by the Clark Family Foundation, Chrest Foundation, and Gunnison County Tourism and Prosperity Partnership.
Media notes:
Media contact: Suzanne Ennis, RMBL communications manager. Email: suzanne@rmbl.org
Images available to download here
Interviews available with Ian Breckheimer and RMBL leadership
About the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) is an independent nonprofit organization founded in 1928. Located at 9,500 feet above sea level in Gothic, Colorado, the field station supports about 200 scientists each summer and maintains one of the most extensive collections of long-term ecological data in the world. More information is available at rmbl.org.
PRESS RELEASE
May 18, 2026
RMBL Scientists Jill Anderson and Ian Breckheimer Win 2026 ESA W.S. Cooper Award
Award honors research on how plants respond to climate change
GOTHIC, Colorado — Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) scientists Jill Anderson and Ian Breckheimer have received the 2026 W.S. Cooper Award from the Ecological Society of America (ESA). The Cooper Award honors the authors of an outstanding publication in the field of geobotany, physiographic ecology, plant succession, or the distribution of plants along environmental gradients.
“This year’s award recipients have each contributed something important to ecology, often in very different ways,” ESA President Peter Groffman said. “Whether through research, mentorship, or service, they’ve helped strengthen the community and move the field forward.”
“This award underscores the importance of long-term, place-based science in understanding and responding to climate change,” RMBL Executive Director Jeni Blacklock, PhD said. “Jill and Ian’s work is a powerful example of how RMBL research is helping to shape the future of ecological science and inform decisions that matter well beyond Gothic.”
The award is the culmination of nearly 15 years of work for Anderson, a professor at the University of Georgia. She and RMBL research scientist Breckheimer, along with collaborators Megan DeMarche, Derek Denney, James Santangelo, and Susana Wadgymar, were honored for their paper “Adaptation and gene flow are insufficient to rescue a montane plant under climate change,” published in Science in 2025.
The study examined how a widespread mountain plant called Boechera stricta responds to climate change. At RMBL, Anderson and her co-authors planted more than 100,000 seeds and seedlings in experimental gardens at different elevations to test how the plants performed under current and warmer climate conditions. The researchers found that although the species is widespread and adaptable, climate change is already threatening their survival, and they may eventually need human help moving to cooler habitats as temperatures rise.
“People often think that rare or endangered species are more susceptible to the effects of climate change,” Anderson says. “What we found is that an extremely common species with a very broad geographic distribution, [capable of living] in many different locations, is currently being threatened by climate change because local populations are so highly adapted to their historical climates.”
A separate study — Kiel et al., “Sparse subalpine forest recovery pathways, plant communities, and carbon stocks 34 years after stand-replacing fire,” Ecological Monographs (2025) — received a second Cooper Award. That study examined the long-term forest recovery following stand-replacing wildfire in subalpine forests decades after the 1988 Yellowstone fires. The findings show that post-fire forest resilience is variable and increasingly uncertain under changing climate and fire regimes, with long-term consequences for ecosystem structure and function.
Both studies underscore how climate change and disturbance operate across scales, from plant adaptation to long-term ecosystem change.
Jill Anderson, PhD, is an evolutionary ecologist and professor in the Odum School of Ecology and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Department of Genetics at the University of Georgia. Ian Breckheimer, PhD, is a landscape ecologist, research scientist at RMBL, and adjunct professor in the Clark Family School of Environment & Sustainability at Western Colorado University.
Anderson, Breckheimer, and their co-authors will formally receive the award at ESA’s upcoming annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. The awards ceremony will take place Monday, July 27, at 8 a.m. at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
Publications:
Jill T. Anderson, Megan L. DeMarche, Derek A. Denney, Ian Breckheimer, James Santangelo, and Susana M. Wadgymar, “Adaptation and gene flow are insufficient to rescue a montane plant under climate change,” Science (2025)
Nathan G. Kiel, Eileen F. Mavencamp, and Monica G. Turner, “Sparse subalpine forest recovery pathways, plant communities, and carbon stocks 34 years after stand-replacing fire,” Ecological Monographs (2025)
About the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
Founded in 1928, RMBL is among the nation’s oldest and most respected field stations. Located at 9,500 feet above sea level in Gothic, Colorado, RMBL supports around 200 scientists each summer and maintains one of the most extensive collections of long-term ecological data in the world. More information is available at rmbl.org.
Media notes:
- Media contact: Suzanne Ennis, RMBL communications manager. Email: suzanne@rmbl.org
- Additional photos available upon request
- Interviews available with Ian Breckheimer and RMBL leadership
PRESS RELEASE
May 11, 2026
RMBL Forecasts Earlier Wildflower Season in Colorado Mountains
New interactive maps predict peak bloom timing across the Upper Gunnison Basin
GOTHIC, Colorado – Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) this week
released forecasts of peak wildflower blooms for the Upper Gunnison Basin around
Crested Butte, known as the “Wildflower Capital of Colorado.”
The forecasts, developed by RMBL research scientist Ian Breckheimer, PhD, are
available as interactive maps at rmblflowercast.org. They draw on long-term ecological
data collected by researchers in Gothic, community-contributed observations on the
iNaturalist platform, and satellite-based observations of snowpack and plant
biodiversity.
Many Colorado mountain wildflowers bloom earlier when snowpack melts sooner and
spring temperatures are warmer. These relationships enable scientists to predict how
much earlier or later flowering will occur at a given site compared with historical
averages.
The system, supported by the Chrest Foundation, focuses on 14 common wildflower
species known for their showy blooms, providing a representative snapshot of the
hundreds of species that attract visitors to the Crested Butte area each summer.
Because each species responds differently to environmental conditions, some shift
bloom timing more dramatically than others.
This year’s conditions are especially unusual. Historically low snowpack and warm
spring temperatures led to snowmelt occurring five to six weeks earlier than average at
elevations near 9,000 feet. As a result, early-season species, such as glacier lilies and
short-style bluebells, are blooming as much as a month ahead of schedule. As of early
May, these species are already in full flower at RMBL’s Gothic research site, which sits
at 9,500 feet.
RMBL scientists forecast that the peak of the wildflower season in the mountains near
Crested Butte, which typically occurs in mid-July, will arrive nearly two weeks earlier this
year. The exact timing varies by location, depending on elevation and the mix of plant
species present.
However, earlier blooms do not necessarily mean more impressive displays. Low
snowpack and earlier plant growth can expose wildflowers to freezing spring
temperatures and drought stress, reducing the abundance and quality of blooms.
Scientists expect this year’s wildflower displays in the vicinity of Crested Butte to be
both earlier and less vibrant than usual, especially at lower elevations.
“Scientists have been studying wildflower blooms at RMBL for more than half a
century,” Breckheimer says. “Combining some of this data with detailed environmental
information from sensors and satellites now gives us the ability to peer into the near
future to forecast impacts of this unusual season.”
Seasons with early blooms have become substantially more common in the last few
decades as climate change has increased spring temperatures and caused snowpack
to melt sooner. Scientific research at RMBL has shown that early-flowering plants are
blooming about two weeks earlier, on average, than they did in the 1970s.
Tools like RMBL’s wildflower forecasts provide insight into how climate change is
reshaping sensitive mountain ecosystems, while also helping visitors plan trips around
peak blooms and supporting local tourism partners. RMBL is working toward generating
other useful forecasts based on its long-term field data, including fire risks and drought
impacts on forests and streams.
RMBL scientists and volunteers are working to check how well the forecasts line up with
reality this summer. Interested participants can fill out the form at
https://tinyurl.com/wildflower-forecasting.
About the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
Founded in 1928, RMBL is among the nation’s oldest and most respected field stations. Located at 9,500 feet above sea level in Gothic, Colorado, RMBL supports around 200 scientists each summer and maintains one of the most extensive collections of longterm ecological data in the world. More information is available at rmbl.org.
Media notes:
- Media contact: Suzanne Ennis, RMBL communications manager. Email: suzanne@rmbl.org
- Additional slides and data visuals available upon request
- Interviews available with Ian Breckheimer and RMBL leadership
PRESS RELEASE
April 1, 2026
200- to-1,000-year Snow Anomaly Observed in Colorado Mountains
New analysis by the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory reveals that the 2026 snow drought is unprecedented in the recent historical record
GOTHIC, Colorado, April 1, 2026 — The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) reports that, as of late March, spring 2026 snowpack surrounding its Gothic, Colorado, campus was at its lowest level recorded in more than 50 years of observations. In the absence of recent climate change, these conditions likely would occur only once every 200 to 1,000 years.
This new analysis by RMBL Principal Research Scientist Ian Breckheimer, PhD, draws on long-term field datasets and 40 years of satellite imagery that track the seasonal disappearance of mountain snowpack — a vital water resource for the ecosystem and the primary source of water in the drought-stricken Colorado River.
According to Breckheimer’s findings, at most sites in the Gunnison Basin, the 2026 snowpack levels and timing of snowmelt are far outside the historic range of variability:
- Gunnison Valley slopes and lower elevations: a 1-in-60- to 300-year event
- Crested Butte valley bottoms: a 1-in-300- to 400-year event
- Mid-slopes of Flat Top Mountain and surrounding areas: a 1-in-500- to 1,000-year event
When accounting for recent climate change, which has caused snowpack to melt 3 to 5 days earlier each decade since 1993 at many sites, the likelihood of this year’s low snowpack level increases. However, it is still rare, with an estimated chance of occurring just once in 25 to 50 years. Moreover, at mid-elevations (between 8,000 and 9,000 feet), low snowfall and warm temperatures have combined to completely melt the current year’s snowpack 35 to 50 days earlier than the historical average. Although storms this week are bringing significant new snow to the higher peaks in the Gunnison Basin, sites where snowpack has already disappeared (most sites below 9,000 feet elevation) will receive mostly rain from this event.
“This is not the new normal,” says Breckheimer, “but it is exactly the kind of extreme event that will test how prepared our ecosystems and communities are for increasing variability.”
The research underscores the importance of long-term ecological observation. RMBL, which sits at an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet in Gothic, Colorado, hosts one of the most well-studied mountain ecosystems in the world, with decades of continuous data on snowpack, hydrology, and ecological response. These datasets make it possible to place current conditions into historical context and estimate how common they might be with and without recent observed climate change.
The implications extend beyond the Gunnison Valley. Snowpack dynamics directly influence water availability, wildfire risk, ecosystem health, and agricultural systems across the western United States. Understanding when and how these extremes occur is critical for forecasting and planning.
“This kind of insight is only possible because of long-term, place-based science,” says RMBL Executive Director Jeni Blacklock. “What we are seeing this year highlights both the value of these datasets and the urgency of continuing to invest in them.”
The findings were first presented during RMBL’s public Après Science talk series, which connects scientists and the public around emerging research in mountain ecosystems. A video of the talk, held on March 25, as well as supporting materials, will be released in the coming weeks. Sign up at rmbl.org/newsletter-sign-up to receive updates delivered via RMBL’s monthly e-newsletter.
About the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
Founded in 1928, RMBL is among the oldest and most respected field stations in the United States. Located in Gothic, Colorado, RMBL supports more than 200 scientists and students each summer and hosts one of the most extensive collections of long-term ecological data in the world.
Media notes:
- Media contact: Suzanne Ennis, RMBL communications manager. Email: suzanne@rmbl.org
- Additional slides and data visuals available upon request
- Video of presentation available soon
- Interviews available with Ian Breckheimer and RMBL leadership
Long-Term Warming Transforms Mountain Meadows Above And Below Ground
29-year study at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) reveals changes in climate reshape plant communities and soil ecosystems
GOTHIC, Colorado, Feb. 17, 2026 – In the longest-running field warming experiment of its kind, scientists conducting research at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), near Crested Butte, Colorado, have documented dramatic shifts in high-elevation mountain meadows, revealing that changes in climate alter not only the plants we can see above ground, but also the fungi and microbes in the soil below. The results, published in an article in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and led by University of Oklahoma associate professor Lara Souza, show that sustained warming is causing meadows to undergo “shrubification,” a transition from diverse grasslands and flowering plants to shrub-dominated landscapes, and that the ecosystem below ground is responding in kind.
“What is really exciting about these findings is that they demonstrate that not only do plant communities shift, which has been documented before, but the soils that are associated with these communities can also change,” Souza says. “A lot of global change experiments haven’t been able to test or address whether soils are changing, partially because they haven’t taken place for long enough for the microbial communities or the soils to respond. The changes we’re seeing below ground are driven by the changes in the plants, and that’s why it takes time to see that happening below ground, because what is above ground has to change.” For nearly three decades, heaters warmed experimental plots of ground year-round. For most of that time, researchers documented how the meadow plant life transitioned from productive grasslands dominated by species like fescue and sunflowers to conservative shrub communities dominated by sagebrush.
The novelty of this newly published study lies in the revelations from underground. In 2019, Souza, her co-principal investigators — Stephanie Kivlin, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Aimée Classen, University of Michigan; and Jennifer Rudgers, The University of New Mexico — and other researchers undertook a field campaign to harvest the entire site, gathering data from deeper into the ground than had been done in such a study.
At greater depths, the team discovered that the soil ecosystem is changing alongside the plants, fundamentally altering how these systems function. As the plant community shifted, so did the types of fungi associated with plant roots. In the original grassland ecosystem, plants relied heavily on mycorrhizal fungi — beneficial partners that help plants absorb water and nutrients from the soil in exchange for carbon. Under warming conditions, however, these mutualistic relationships declined dramatically, and soil saprotrophic fungi, which are involved in the decomposition of organic matter, increased.
“We’re watching mountain meadows transform in real time. As shrubs expand and plants alter their resource strategies, the balance between plants and the fungi that support them is changing, signaling a move toward slower, more conservative ecosystem functioning,” Classen says. “We show that mycorrhizal fungi and decomposers are not reacting to environmental change the same way as plants, which can result in an unexpected loss of microorganisms under future climates,” Kivlin says. “We expected that after 29 years of warming, that mycorrhizal fungi could adjust or acclimate to the higher temperatures, but the fact is that they can’t, and that has consequences for ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycles.”
These changes alter key services that ecosystems provide, such as foraging land for wildlife. The original herbaceous meadow provided rapid nutrient cycling, meaning that plants quickly absorbed nutrients from the soil, incorporated them into their tissue and returned them to the soil when they died. By contrast, the new shrub-dominated environment operates much more slowly and conservatively. Under these new conditions, the grassland areas become drier and more arid.
“More work is necessary to determine the timeframe of when decoupling will occur and if mitigation can restore communities back to their coupled state following disturbance,” Kivlin says.
Publication Details: Souza, Lara, et al. “Experimental warming decouples plant–fungal symbiont interactions and leads to a more conservative ecosystem.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2510936123
About the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory: Founded in 1928, RMBL is an independent scientific research station based 9,500 feet above sea level in Gothic, Colorado. In a rapidly changing world, RMBL sustains our quality of life by accelerating discoveries about the ecosystems that replenish the world’s air, water, and food supply. For more information, visit rmbl.org.
From the Archives
Global Network Of Mountain Observatories (GNOMO) – 9/2015
PRESS RELEASE
December 29, 2014
RMBL to receive Award for Historic Preservation Projects in Gothic
History Colorado announced that the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory will receive a Stephen H. Hart Award for Historic Preservation in 2015 for RMBL’s efforts to preserve the Gothic Townsite and its historic structures. Stephen H. Hart was Colorado’s first State Historic Preservation Officer. Each year, History Colorado recognizes outstanding preservation projects with the Stephen H. Hart Award.
RMBL is a biological field station located on the remains of the abandoned mining town of Gothic. The mission of RMBL is to advance the scientific understanding of nature that promotes informed stewardship of the earth. Each summer, scientists and students live in Gothic while performing research throughout the townsite and surrounding area. Since it was founded in 1928, living in historic structures at the base of Gothic mountain is part of the charm and adventure of spending a summer researching at RMBL.
RMBL designated seven buildings in Gothic to be on the local register of historic places for Gunnison County. Over the last decade, RMBL partnered with the State Historic Fund to restore these structures by mimicking the craftsmanship of each building while providing stabilization and preservation of the original building materials. Three buildings are from 1880, and the others date back to the early 1900s and the 1930s just after RMBL was founded.
“We are trying to preserve representative cabins from each timeframe in Gothic’s history,” said Mike Fabbre, Facilities Director for RMBL. The earliest preservation projects in Gothic restored the Town Hall and Swallow’s Nest Cabin, both visible from County Road 317. Built from milled lumber, this old saloon now turned into RMBL’s Kids Nature Camp headquarters, and this former law office now turned into an undergraduate student summer residence, are characteristic of building styles in mining towns in the Rockies in the 1880s.
“We don’t want these treasures to disappear,” said Mike Fabbre, “We preserve cabins for scientists to have a place to live during the summer, but also to save the heritage of Gunnison County and the State of Colorado.” This past summer, RMBL completed its most recent historic preservation project on the McLeod cabin which was built in 1936 of rough hewn logs. Dr. Lawrence McLeod was an early RMBL scientist who lived in this cabin during the summers of 1940-1960.
Today, RMBL has over 70 structures on its 300 acre property. From historic cabins to modern classrooms to a state of the art research laboratory, and completed this fall, a community center and dining hall, RMBL is preserving the old while bringing in the new.
For More Information go to History Colorado
RMBL Introduces High School Students to Field Biology – 8/2014
Researchers Trace ‘Rock Snot’ to Native Species – 5/2014
Once a private paradise, 160-acre basin is now public – 9/2013
Local Teacher and Her Students Benefit for National Grant through RMBL – 9/2013
An early spring drives butterfly population declines – 3/2012