Defiende Nuestra Tierra celebrated the ribbon-cutting and inauguration of the first bilingual signage in the U.S. Forest Service’s Aspen-Sopris Ranger District on Saturday, June 22. Also in June, Defiende Nuestra Tierra, a program of Wilderness Workshop that focuses on engaging the Latino community in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys in public lands advocacy, relaunched a map of local trails in Spanish to connect the Latino community with public lands.
The Camino Latino map is free and designed specifically for the Latino community. Its objective is to ensure that public lands information is available in Spanish in a format that is easy to use and understand, according to Omar Sarabia, director of Defiende Nuestra Tierra.
Sarabia spoke of a meeting that took place in August of last year. The Forest Service, Defiende Nuestra Tierra and local leaders got together for a listening session where they learned that one of the biggest concerns was the lack of trails signage in Spanish.
“Kevin Warner, the ranger of the Aspen-Sopris district within White River National Forest, liked the idea a lot and said, ‘We are going to start putting signs on the trails on the map,’” Sarabia said. The ultimate goal is to install bilingual signage throughout all the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District.
On Saturday, June 22, Sarabia was told that bilingual signage would soon be installed in the Dillon district. “We are 37% of Latinos here in the Valley,” he commented. “These are our public servants. If your constituents speak Spanish, you must provide the service in that language.”
Although the now existing bilingual signage is a great victory for the Latino community, there are many more areas to include from the Camino Latino map.
“We still need areas like Rifle, Silt, Parachute because a lot of us live there,” Sarabia said. “We are available to help and to collaborate in whatever is necessary to continue this work of linguistic justice.”
Sarabia also said that many of the Latinos who live here are not bilingual and seeing a sign in Spanish makes them feel welcome and provides a sense of belonging.
“What I’m saying is that many times, that information makes you feel more secure knowing that there are bears or a rock avalanche, any type of information that is for your safety can save your life,” Sarabia said. “Knowing that can change your experience of camping and of nature.”
Sarabia also said that there are still no signs in Spanish that caution people to not go into a river when the current is rowdy. Again, this type of information can help prevent dangerous situations.
So far, the response to bilingual signage has been positive. Several services are already provided in a bilingual manner such as permits for camping, forms to reserve a campsite and the recreation website of the government.
“I thought it was amazing that without saying anything, the Forest Service translated them,” Sarabia said. “It seems to me that eventually due to pressure from our community, it will become a positive snowball, especially where we live from Glenwood to Parachute. It will snowball to the point where other districts will feel that they will have to do the same.”
