Our community is our laboratory. The High Desert Center makes its home in Colorado’s North Fork Valley, a community filled with innovative experiments in sustainable living. More than 50 farms, ranches, nurseries, orchards, dairies, wineries and other businesses contribute to the organic agriculture economy. The local nonprofit Solar Energy International attracts students from around the world to its alternative energy courses, and the noted environmental journal High Country News, produced and published locally, is read throughout the American West. The town of Paonia also enjoys a small but lively music and arts scene, and a cozy Main Street core that includes a microbrew pub, a community radio station, and several cafes and restaurants. Hiking, biking, skiing, and other recreational opportunities abound. (Photos to come)