Spring Education & Stewardship in the NCAs

As always, we’ve had a very busy spring here at CCA! To stay updated on our programs and impact, read through the highlights below and enjoy the snapshots from our events.

Education Programs

We’re off to another great season of education programs! Our team spent the winter planning and prepping for a busy spring of trips and events. Check out these highlights from what we’ve been up to:

  • 8th graders from Redlands Middle School learned all about the dinosaurs of McInnis Canyons NCA

  • Mentors and mentees from Partners West joined us for Plein Air paint alongs in Gunnison Gorge NCA

  • 465 Mesa County 3rd graders joined us for our 15th annual Nature Knowledge Days to learn about the ecology and history of McInnis Canyons NCA

  • Our returning river guides, Kathy, Erik, and Zoe, completed training on the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers

  • 5th graders from Oak Grove Elementary in Montrose rafted the Gunnison River

  • Students have learned about gall wasps, invasive bullfrogs, and the local watershed on our first river trips of the season

May and June continue to stay busy with more fields trips on the land and river. We’re looking forward to working with our local partner organizations during the summer to keep getting kids outside. Thank you to all the education volunteers and staff who continue to make these programs possible!

Stewardship Programs

Spring is the perfect time for stewardship projects! Volunteers joined us to complete trash clean-ups and restoration in our National Conservation Areas. Here are some of the stewardship highlights from the past few months:

  • 24 volunteers came out to celebrate Dominguez-Escalante NCA’s 15th anniversary and clean-up trash that had built up over the winter months

  • We hosted our annual Volunteer Orientation & Training for 27 new and returning volunteers

  • Folks joined us on the river to help tidy-up our riverside education camp, Catalpa, before the first student trips of the season

  • Volunteers helped us table at the Bridgeport trailhead in Dominguez-Escalante NCA to educate hikers, backpackers, and boaters about how to recreate responsibly on their public lands

  • 18 Adopt-a-Trail volunteers continue to monitor and steward the trails of all three of Colorado’s NCAs

Next up - our river clean-ups on the Gunnison and Colorado rivers! Keep an eye out for more upcoming community events. And next time you see a CCA volunteer, make sure to thank them for the great work they do!

Sara BrookerComment