Wrapping Up 2020 Programs
Thanks to dedicated CCA staff, partner organizations, volunteers, and community members, our 2022 programs were a huge success; CCA continued to connect, educate, and engage kids and adults on the landscapes of our National Conservation Areas. From volunteer river clean-ups to virtual field trips for students, we’re proud of the community impact we made in 2022 and want to share our favorite memories with you!
Our Impact in Numbers
River-Based Programs
342 students rafted with CCA and learned about the landscape
25 volunteers cleaned up 36 miles of the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers
24 different day-long & overnight trips
LAND-BASED PROGRAMS
2,200 students engaged and educated through outdoor and virtual field trips
80 volunteers contributing 75o+ hours of land stewardship and education
29 community trips & events in the NCAs
River Overview
Despite many challenges in 2020, CCA's River Education team provided invaluable place-based learning opportunities and made many meaningful memories for youth and adults in western Colorado.
While we weren't able to run youth educational programs during the spring, CCA's river team spent a lot of time at our Catalpa Camp making structural and property improvements, building a solid foundation for future plans to develop the property as a youth education camp. We launched our river education season in June with a small, but hearty group on our Birding on the Colorado River adventure. While hunkered down at Catalpa Camp on the second day of the trip, a rare "derecho" thunderstorm moved through Colorado, violently destroying the two 16 x 20 canvas wall tents on the property. While it was a devastating set-back, we maintained a growth mindset and vowed to regroup and rebuild.
Throughout the summer, thanks to great partnerships with Eureka! Science Museum, Mesa and Delta County Partners, and Riverside Educational Center, CCA's river educators safely led small groups of students on single and multi-day river trips. Students on these trips were immersed in fully interactive experiences on the river, building meaningful relationships with their peers, mentors, and the natural world.
In conjunction with the Grand Junction and Uncompahgre field offices of the Bureau of Land Management and committed groups of volunteers, CCA's river team also facilitated river clean-ups removing several hundred pounds of trash from busy corridors on the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers. Odell Brewing generously supported our work on the Colorado River as part of their Keep It Pretty Campaign.
This fall, we partnered with The Nature Connection to offer every 9th grader in the Delta County School district the opportunity to attend a full-day river trip on the Gunnison River. Aligned with Colorado environmental science and social studies curriculum, CCA's river educators shared knowledge of the area, including an interpretive hike at the Eagle Rock Shelter within the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. Spoke + Blossom magazine published a great story on the event. You can read it here.
Students from Colorado Mesa University also had the opportunity to take an overnight river trip to Catalpa Camp as part of a river milestone course co-taught by CCA's River Program Director, Dawn Cooper. During the trip, students learned how to effectively design and run a place-based rafting program, facilitate various experiential education lessons, the basics of effective camp set-up, and navigate rafts on the river.
While 2020 provided many challenges, it also exemplified the importance of our place-based educational programs and the far-reaching mental and physical health benefits for students who spend time in nature. Our river education program teaches students to develop resilience when faced with naturally occurring obstacles, self-confidence overcoming those obstacles, and valuable opportunities for deep self-reflection and transference after the program. We can all agree that these skills are priceless in times of uncertainty and beyond.
Land Overview
In 2020 our land education program faced some major obstacles that we were able to overcome using our staff's ingenuity, our partners’ creativity, and the public's willingness to adapt. We initially planned on getting over 2,000 students outdoors this year. You already know that a global pandemic forced us to change those plans.
This spring and summer, after large programs were canceled, our team focused on creating digital content for students to use both in and out of the classroom. By the start of December, we had managed to reach over 2,200 people with our online programming! With small, socially-distanced hikes, we also got over 100 kids outside for place-based learning. This represents not only a major success for our land team in the face of a global crisis, but also a 16% growth over the number of people reached in 2019. We are so tremendously thankful for everybody who helped make this possible, including our local school districts, partner organizations, and the Bureau of Land Management.
With the celebration of McInnis Canyons NCA’s 20th anniversary, we hosted free community events throughout the NCA to celebrate its special resources and qualities. From horseback riding, interpretive history hikes, virtual scientific lectures, and more, we celebrated 20 fantastic years of McInnis Canyons with the entire community!
We also ramped up our land stewardship and volunteer programs in 2020. As you likely noticed, the NCAs saw a large increase in use during the spring and summer this year due to the pandemic. While we encouraged people to get out and experience our public lands responsibly, many of our trails and recreation areas saw an increase in damage. In response, we created an Adopt-a-Trail program; dedicated volunteers have been monitoring and stewarding our favorite trails, keeping them usable for all. Additionally, we conducted outreach events and created interpretive materials to educate the public on responsible recreation and Leave No Trace. Phase 1 of the Sieber Fire restoration project also began this year. In response to nearly 1,200 acres of potential sage grouse habitat burning, volunteers have been monitoring the landscape and collecting sage brush seeds. Phase 2 will begin in 2021 and will involve revegetating the scarred area. With the generous help of volunteers this year, the NCAs were well looked after!
To everyone who was involved with our 2022 programs, THANK YOU! Your support was invaluable. To support our goals in 2023, please consider making a year-end gift.
INCREASE YOUR IMPACT AND GIVE ON COLORADO GIVES DAY, A STATEWIDE DAY OF GIVING ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6TH!
Visit coloradogives.org and schedule your donation for Colorado Gives Day! By donating on Colorado Gives Day, you can maximize the impact of your donation thanks to the Community First Foundation’s Incentive Fund.
GIVE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE YEAR-END GIFT TO CCA BY MAILING US A CHECK AT:
543 Main St #4
Grand Junction, CO 81501