Background
The High Altitude Revegetation Committee was formed in 1973 and held its first Workshop in 1974. In the 1970’s, the changing governmental regulatory picture centered mostly on mining disturbances and a groundswell of interest in studying and protecting natural environments served as the impetus to organize this Committee. At that time, very little formal research on the subject of rehabilitating disturbances at high altitudes had been performed. Some forward-looking individuals from private companies, government and academia created the High Altitude Revegetation Committee with a mission to conduct research, and gather and disseminate information that would promote understanding of restoration and revegetation techniques that could be applied to disturbances at high elevations. In the early years a dearth of experience with plant materials that could be successfully established at high elevations led much emphasis to be placed on the vegetation aspects of rehabilitation. The types of activities studied and visited over the years include hard rock and strip mining, ski areas, road building, reservoirs, energy resource developments, resort and housing developments, recreation sites, parks, rangelands and forests, always with emphasis on methods and materials that would provide quality restoration and revegetation. The emphasis of the activities of this group continue to evolve with the times in order to address the changing needs of our membership for information that is relevant to their work and their current interests.
To carry out our educational mission, the Committee organizes a three-day Workshop in the spring of each even numbered year, and an annual two-day Summer Field Tour. Our Workshop is an invited-speaker conference with two days of presentations, poster papers and commercial exhibits. The Summer Tour is planned around visits to several high elevation projects or disturbances where we can see reclamation-in-action or the results of completed projects.
The Committee is currently made up of 3000 members; we typically have 225-275 Workshop attendees and 75-100 Summer Tour attendees. As of 2025, HAR continues to operate through the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University, and consists of a diverse group dedicated to taking the necessary action to plan and successfully carry out these activities.
Founding
“Today we have the potential to create [significant] high altitude disturbances. We recognize the unique scenic and watershed values of the subalpine and alpine, and understand better the fragility of these ecosystems. The need for rehabilitation of present-day disturbances is obvious. However, many past and current revegetation efforts are after-thoughts.
Information on rehabilitation potential and procedures must be available for planning and in considering alternatives. Rehabilitation must include use of the best available technology, and long-term commitments for management and maintenance.
To help in meeting these needs a workshop on revegetation of high altitude disturbed lands was organized by the following co-operators: Climax Molybdenum Company, Colorado Department of Highways, Soil Conservation Service, University of Colorado, U.S. Forest Service, Vail Associates, and Agricultural Research Service.”
– Preface to the first proceedings of a Workshop on Revegetation of High-Altitude Disturbed Lands, held in Ft. Collins January 31 to February 1, 1974
Three people shared equally in the organizing of the first “Committee for High Altitude Revegetation (HAR)” as it was called in 1976: W.A. (Bill) Berg from CSU, Robin Cuany of CSU, and James A. (Jim) Brown of Climax Molybdenum Company. According to Larry Brown—former chairman of the committee for some 22 years—Jim Ludwig of Climax Molybdenum Company, more than anyone else, must be given credit for starting the HAR committee. Jim Ludwig was very concerned about reclaiming disturbances at Climax Mine and he began to sponsor and to encourage research on tailing and other mine wastes as early as 1969. Some of the first research was done by Bill Berg and Robin Cuany of CSU, along with graduate student Henry Barrau. In late 1973, Jim Ludwig (through Climax) provided some funding and had Jim Brown (who was working for Ludwig at the time) contact Cuany and Berg to organize a workshop to “disseminate information regarding revegetating high elevation disturbed lands.”
The ski areas, Colorado Division of Highways, U.S. Forest Service, and the mining companies were the target audience. Organizers of the first workshop put together a program of 13 papers and 4 working group discussions. According to Larry Brown, the first workshop attendance was estimated at about 100 participants. In fact, it was so well-attended (above expectations) that a field trip for summer 1974 was conducted. Thereafter, HAR holds workshops every 2 years and a summer field trip each year.