Spring Has Sprung: Program Updates
As always, we’ve had a very busy spring here at CCA! With a calendar full of student field trips and stewardship events, our staff and volunteers have been working hard to make it all happen. Read more in the updates below!
River Programs
After months of winter planning, coordination, and hiring, we were excited to welcome on our seasonal river team in April! Kathy, Erik, and Tara joined as River Guides & Educators and Taylor joined as CCA’s Logistics River Assistant. They dove into 2+ weeks of comprehensive guide training, covering everything from educational curriculum to swiftwater rescue. With the wealth of experience they are bringing to CCA, we are excited to have such a high-quality River Team this year!
Our first student trips were with 5th graders from Oak Grove Elementary School in Montrose. We led three fun days of river trips down the Gunnison River in Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. Students got to visit Eagle Rock shelter, learn about the local watershed, and most importantly, enjoy the great outdoors!
It’s not just kids that get to have fun, though! We led our annual Birding Adventure trip this past weekend on Ruby-Horsethief. Guests stayed at our private riverside camp, Catalpa, and enjoyed seeing over 50 species of bird - including a flock of pelicans!
With high river flows projected through June, we are committed to providing a safe experience for participants above all else. Every week from now until the end of October, you can find our River Team out on the Colorado or Gunnison River teaching our local community about the landscape, outdoor skills, and so much more.
Land Programs
One of our favorite education events happens in the spring - Nature Knowledge Days! For over a decade, we’ve been providing free outdoor field trips to local 3rd graders. With help from volunteers and BLM staff, over 250 Mesa County 3rd grade students joined us in McInnis Canyons NCA to learn about their backyard through hands-on, station-based learning. We were excited to present our updated curriculum with a focus on quality over quantity; smaller group sizes and additional time at each station made for a better learning experience for all!
In addition to our larger field trips, we’ve been working with other local students on a variety of educational outings. Thanks to the amazing paleontological resources in McInnis Canyons, we were able to lead a fun field trip showcasing the dinosaurs and geology of the area in March.
As the season heats up, our land programs will move to higher elevations to continue to our place-based educational programming. We are proud to partner with other local nonprofits to achieve our mission; this summer, we’ll work with local libraries, museums, and partner organizations to get even more great programs to our local community.
Community events
April was a very busy month for our stewardship program, too! To get volunteers ready for the season, we hosted our annual volunteer orientation and training; we covered upcoming events, expectations, and educational curriculum for those interested. The next few days were jam-packed with events including a trip down to our riverside education camp, Catalpa, to conduct some much needed site maintenance.
For Earth Day, CCA celebrated with two events, both in Gunnison Gorge NCA. Alongside the BLM, CCA hosted a day of trail work at the Sidewinder Trail - 21 volunteers joined us! We hopped over to the Trash and Trout event taking place on the Gunnison River where volunteers removed a huge pile of trash from the waterway. It was great to give back to our public lands - thank you to the volunteers who joined us!
We also hosted our popular spring lecture series, led by local experts. If you missed them and want a chance to catch up, you can learn about the wildlife, plants, and history of the NCAs through our recorded videos. We’re already excited for our next lecture series, hosted this fall. If you can’t wait until then, we’ll be offering an in-person lecture at the Escalante Boat Ramp on May 25th - join us to talk about the rivers and water rights of the Western Slope.
With the weather warming up on the Western Slope, there are many opportunities to get outside to enjoy your public lands. Our NCAs offer world-class rafting, biking, jeeping, and so much more. You can learn more about all of the recreational opportunities our NCAs have to offer here. As you enjoy your public lands, please remember to recreate responsibly and leave no trace. We’ll see you out in the NCAs!