Join us at the Four Corners!

This year's preconference tour is a celebration of the region's rich cultural heritage. Explore the beautiful landscapes of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona during this three-day experience. You will have the opportunity to see Anasazi cliff dwellings, spectacular geologic formations, and groundbreaking AML techniques.

The tour will depart early on the morning of Friday October 24th from the Doubletree Hotel, site of the Conference. It will arrive back at the Doubletree on the afternoon of Sunday the 26th, in time for participants to get ready for the Sunday evening reception. In order for you to be ready for departure on time, the Doubletree has extended their preferred rates for Thursday the 23rd. While you are traveling on the preonference tour, we have made arrangements for your luggage to be stored at the Doubletree as well.

Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made this high desert mesa their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300.

Today, the park protects over 4,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States. There are thousands of archaeological sites across the park and excellent interpretive loops and scenic pullouts. We will have an opportunity to explore some of the cliff dwellings to get an up-close perspective into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people on Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde National Park is a World Cultural Heritage Park, a designation granted by UNESCO to preserve and protect the cultural and national heritage of certain international sites.

Edge of the Cedars Museum and Cottonwood Wash Project

Visit the award winning Edge of the Cedars Museum in Blanding, Utah. Built at the site of a Chaocoan Great House and Kiva, the museum features an outstanding collection of Anasazi pottery and artifacts, in addition to a partially excavated ruin. A behind-the-scenes tour of the museum will allow you to see things not normally open to the public.

Much of the material housed at the museum was found in the Cottonwood Wash area, the site of many abandoned uranium mines and only a short drive from the Museum. The Utah AML Program was a major player in the Cottonwood Wash Project partnership along with the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. The project addressed high gross alpha radiation in Cottonwood Creek, closed 239 adits and 50 shafts, removed mine dumps from the stream bed, and reclaimed 73 miles of exploratory mine roads. You will also visit the unexcavated Cottonwood Wash Great House and Kiva located along what is thought to be one of the northern most Chacoan road outlier settlements.

Monument Valley

Come and join in the discover Navajoland tour to the beautiful Monument Valley area. The tour will be full of scenic landscapes and geographic areas rising a thousand feet above the valley floor. Hidden into the natural landscape are old abandoned mine sites and new infrastructures/ /facilities projects that will be discussed in length. This area is unique as a renowned tourist attraction.

We will discuss the uranium mining history and geology, which included two of the largest uranium surface mines within the state of Arizona and the Navajo Nation. The earliest discovery within the Navajo Nation occurred in 1918, within an area known as Cane Valley. In addition, Public Facilities Projects (PFP) located at Oljato Chapter and Monument Valley area will be tour. In Oljato, a senior citizens center was renovated with a new addition and at Monument Valley area a Vendors’ Village Facilities was constructed and both were funded with different leverage funds. While the physical dangers of the mines have been eliminated, see how the Public Facilities Program benefits the communities directly. See how the visions of SMCRA are being implemented full circle to restore the lands and benefit the people’s quality of life.

The grand finale will be the Monument Valley Tribal Park tour. Listen to discussions of AML sites and the geology, as well as access to these mines. The tour will be presented by genuine Navajo guides. Hear some of the local story-telling, legends (John Wayne) of the valley, and experience every day life in the Valley such as rug-weaving, and entertainment. We will take you to the back country of the Valley, and point out some unique rock structures, petroglaphs, and pictorial views. You get to meet and shop with the original artists’ crafts/jewelries. A Navajo Traditional lunch will be part of the day’s activities. Lodging will be at the brand new Monument Valley’s The View Hotel! Do not be left out of this captivating tour and once in a lifetime experience!

Four Corners National Monument

We will also be visiting the Four Corners National Monument. The monument is the only place in the United States where the borders of four states come together at one point. Make sure to bring your camera to take a photo of your friends and colleagues playing a game of geographic Twister, trying to be in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah at the same time.

La Plata Geomorphic Reclamation Project

In New Mexico, visit a two thousand-acre coal mine reclamation site where a 200-year storm event resulted in no erosion or sedimentation problems, even before vegetation was planted. BHP staff designed landforms and stream channels using fluvial geomorphic principles (which are based on mathematical models developed by geomorphologists on the way nature herself shapes landscape elements). These landforms, including stream meanders and curvilinear, concave slope profiles, persist in nature because they are the most erosionally stable landforms. Come to see and to learn about the latest trend in mine reclamation.

Important Details

Clothing

Autumn weather in the desert Southwest is generally warm during the day, and cool at night. Expect high temperatures in the low to mid 70s (going as high as the 80s) and lows diping into the low 30s. It's best to dress in layers to easily adjust to the weather as it changes throughout the day. While the Four Corners region is arid, rain and occasional snow is not unheard of at this time of year. For traversing the terrain you will need sturdy walking shoes or light hiking boots. Steel toed boots, hard hats and safety glasses for the La Plata Mine tour are also required.

Sunglasses, hats and sunscreen are also recommended.

Meals and Lodging

All lodging is provided during the preconference tour. With the exception of a lunch at Monument Valley, meals will be on your own.

Costs

Registration for the conference ranges from $50 to $225 per person, depending on registrant type and length of attendance. You can register for the pre-conference tours and events at the same time.

Registration costs increase after August 31st, so Register now for the best price!

Register Online or via Mail

To register securely online, use the "Register Now" button below. You will be taken to a secure site at Key Bank to complete your registration. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover cards are accepted online.

If you prefer to mail in your registration and pay via credit card, check, or purchase order, download the registration PDF here.

Remember to use one form per person, please. If registering multiple persons, please use separate forms for each person.

You can send mail-in registrations, including purchase orders and checks, to:

Kimberly Seymour

Division of Reclamation, Mining & Safety

1313 Sherman St. Ste. 215

Denver, CO 80203

Registration/Conference Materials

Once we have received your payment and completed registration forms, you will receive a confirmation e-mail from us. You will receive your conference materials when you check in at the conference in Durango.

Cancellation Policy

A processing fee of $25 will be applied to all cancelled registrations. After September 19, no refund will be issued. Changes and cancellations must be requested by E-mail to Loretta Pineda at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Questions?

For changes to, cancellations of or questions about your registration, please contact Loretta Pineda via e-mail or at 303.866.3819.

Reach the top professionals in the Mine Land Reclamation Field by showing off the best your organization has to offer! Exhibit, display, and talk about your program, services and products with a large and interested audience at the NAAMLP conference. 15 spaces for exhibitors are available near the lobby and meeting rooms at the Doubletree Hotel in Durango.  Use this handy PDF form to sign up for your space at the 30th Annual NAAMLP National Conference.

Spaces are available at a first-come, first-service basis, so register as an exhibitor today!