Category Archives: Get Involved

RIO+20–what’s that?

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That’s what I thought when I first heard about Rio+20. Anyone remember the 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio De Janiero, Brazil? I was 10 years old, so umm, I don’t. But 20 years later (i.e. Rio+20), my eyes and ears are wide open.

Rio de Janeiro. Host city for Rio Plus 20. CEC will be there!

As a follow-up to the 1992 Earth Summit, the Rio+20 U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development will host world leaders and thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, and various NGOs for the purpose of finding solutions to tough issues such as; how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet? How can we create the future we want? This is truly a global conversation and a monumental event and I’m excited to say that CEC is ready to join in!

Along with my colleague, Kate Graham, I have jumped on an exciting opportunity to join a small team of young professionals from Grand Junction who will be traveling to Brazil next week for Rio+ 20!

While in Rio we will be actively conducting interviews for a short film documentary (working title Voices of Rio) focused on educating and activating a Colorado-based viewership.  On the one hand, we know that Colorado and CEC are leading the charge for sustainable development working to protect our air, water and wilderness. On the other, we know that we can be doing more!

We want to ensure we are playing our part by engaging in global conversations on important issues such as climate change, clean water, smart growth, environmental justice and MANY more relevant topics to Colorado and the world. In conducting interviews our goal is to identify and address the challenges we face in Colorado and the United States that stifles our active participation in the global movement for a sustainable future. In juxtaposing international and regional outcomes during the past 20 years, we aim to pinpoint the root cause(s) of inaction, and catalyze our viewership to chart a new path toward progress and sustainable change.

Throughout this VERY unique and exciting week, the world will be tweeting, posting, and blogging and so will we! Won’t you join us?

Follow us on:

Twitter
Facebook
CEC blog

or join the conversation @#RioPlus20 on Twitter.

The Continuing Story of the Forbidden Dance

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When we left the lek—the grouse were dancing joyfully and then a beautiful predator crashed the party. The dancers were hunkered down awaiting their fate. Party guests were tense watching to learn if a dancer would die……

Female Harrier flying over and checking out male Greater Sage Grouse on lek in NW Colorado. By Todd Patrick

The beautiful yet menacing hawk stretched her wings wide, tilting them to slow her flight, seeming to hover a foot from the ground. She flexed her sharp talons, brushing her lethal weapons lightly through the feathers of the largest male grouse teasing him with her power, strength and beauty.

Hawk & Grouse by Todd Patrick

The grouse seemed to shudder or was that just the breeze in his full coat of feathers?

Then, seeing nothing she wished to take, the hawk lifted her wings and soared fast and true through the big bright blue sky.

A sigh went up from the crowd. The grouse couples arose with new life and commenced to shake their tail feathers as if in triumph. Yet, the moment of peace was brief as in one corner of the dance “floor” a scuffle ensued.

Two males drunk on survival, squared off, eying each other like prize fighters. They circled one another looking for weakness. Ducking and weaving, jabbing, with a right hook here and faint there.

Male Grouse Face-Off at the Lek By Todd Patrick

The tension mounted as the insults began to fly back and forth between the two cocky birds. Such fights often ended in blood-shed. Would the grouse survive the hawk only to be lethally injured in a dance room brawl?

Male Grouse Circling before a Fight. By Todd Patrick

Find out in the final installment of….The Forbidden Dance….

“The Forbidden Dance” is an extended metaphor with blatantly anthropomorphic perspectives of some of the events experienced during the 2012 Grouse Viewing Trips as recounted by CEC’s Northwest Organizer, head grouse wrangler, and abuser of metaphors Sasha Nelson. Her professors are seriously considering confiscation of her advanced degree in animal behavior and her colleague biologists at Rocky Mountain Wild are threatening to never speak to her again. In her defense Sasha states: “I was so sleep deprived I think I was channeling my Nature Writing in the West professor who used to say – a message doesn’t have to be scientifically accurate to be understood.”

Learn more about Greater Sage Grouse and CEC’s work in Northwest Colorado by visiting us!

Better Than TV!

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There is nothing like experiencing first hand something you would watch on Discovery or the National Geographic Channel. Here I am, well before sunrise, driving westward in anticipation of watching the Greater Sage Grouse perform their mating dance. I arrive in Craig to meet up with the other Northwestern folks joining in on this training trip. Everyone looks pretty groggy as Sasha gives a preliminary chat about what our day will entail and what to expect once we are on the “lek”. All the necessary forms are filled out and last minute details finalized, everyone loads up into the vehicles, and we begin the journey continuing west until we near the Wyoming border.

There they were with their tail feathers high and fanned out, the tips of their wings scrapping the ground and their air-sacks expanding as they proudly danced and displayed their manliness. It did not take long before the ladies arrived to check out the gentlemen who were looking for that special someone. There were three ladies that came for the show and left, as far as we could tell, satisfied. They were off to feed and soon lay an egg. After a few hours the show was over and everyone that came for the viewing was as satisfied as the Greater Sage Grouse ladies. It was a sight to see and one I, and the rest of the group, will not soon forget.

What happened to the grouse dancers?

Too find out read the next installment of “The Forbidden Dance” later this week or a few seats are still available, join us  for a “dance” experience  you will remember always!

 

Convene for Green was a blast!

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Keenan leading group

Me leading the charge

Last Tuesday, Colorado Environmental Coalition was involved with the first “Convene for Green Lobby Day” in a number of years—and it was a huge success! I was so tremendously impressed with the dedication and knowledge exhibited by the citizen lobbyists who participated. Colorado Environmental Coalition and our partners sent out a flurry of emails and phone calls to recruit participants and on March 13th a small army of environmentalists gathered for an early morning breakfast and a quick briefing covering the issues they would lobby and basic lobbying procedures. During the briefing, volunteers asked a number of astute and nuanced questions, which was truly impressive. Once the briefing concluded, it was off to the capitol to bend the ears of Colorado’s legislators!

I had the privilege of leading a group of voters from Lakewood and Arvada in their efforts to lobby an electronic waste recycling bill and to express their opposition to legislative attempts to wrest authority on oil and gas development from local governments. After a few Golden Dome stalking tips on how best to track down their legislators, my volunteers hit the ground running. It was great to see all of them step up to the plate and make their voices heard. They secured commitments on e-waste, and after some back and forth with a couple elected officials regarding local control, were successful on the oil and gas issue as well.

After spending most of the legislative session in committee hearing rooms populated with paid lobbyists and attorneys representing industry groups and other special interests, it was great to see citizens speaking directly with their representatives about the importance of environmental issues. I was so impressed with how many people took time out of their busy lives to ensure their elected officials know that Coloradans care about the environment and conservation.

Looking back and looking ahead at CEC’s Northwest Hiking Adventures

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For the past six months I have been working for CEC as their Conservation Advocate Fellow on the West Slope in the Northwest office located in Craig. Our office looks after Routt, Moffat, and Rio Blanco Counties and their conservation areas. One of the more exciting aspects of my position is to get folks from our region out into the areas we work to protect. This helps raise awareness of our public lands, Wilderness Study Areas, and other areas of special interest. The first week on the job I did a ride along with the Luke Schafer, West Slope – North Campaign Coordinator. He showed me some absolutely amazingly beautiful country in Moffat and Rio Blanco Counties. It got me excited to explore these new areas that were foreign to me.

Cross Mountain–In Dinosaur National Monument (CEC)

Our outings were first coined as a “Hiking Series” and it consisted of four locations. The first location was to hike Howelsen Hill and Emerald Mountain up to the quarry. The second was the south rim of Cross Mountain in Dinosaur National Monument. For the third hike, we selected Carpenter Ranch, specifically the Yampa River Preserve. The last hiking location was Duffy Mountain. Of the four hikes offered, two happened: Howelsen Hill/Emerald Mountain and Carpenter Ranch. On both hikes the participants were fantastic and everyone had a great experience. The Carpenter Ranch hike was especially fun as we bushwhacked through the brush to explore an old home, found bear prints in the dried mud, and saw a bald eagle soaring above us on the hike out. It was because of the success of this outing that we decided to rename the series from “Hiking Series” to “Adventure Series.”

Beautiful hillsides of Diamond Breaks (Mark Pearson)

The three outings I planned in the newly re-named “Adventure Series” started with Cross Mountain in hopes of getting some interest in exploring the area and observing the canyon from above. Followed by an outing into a Wilderness Study Area of Brown’s Park National Wildlife Refuge called Diamond Breaks, up through Choke Cherry Draw. This hike ends at an old homestead and has an interesting story on how the area got its name. Lastly, I planned an outing to head into Bull Canyon on the far western border of Colorado visiting another area of beautiful canyon country. Unfortunately, Bull Canyon was cancelled due to weather conditions and the trips to Diamond Breaks and Cross Mountain didn’t fill, so we did not go.

Due to the cancellations, the “Hiking/Adventure Series” was not as successful as we had hoped for 2011, but the groundwork has already been set for 2012. With the areas already chosen, and the descriptions and posters written up, weather permitting, we can start earlier this spring and hopefully get more folks involved in getting out and getting excited about where we live. If you are interested in joining CEC’s West Slope – Northwest 2012 Adventure Series, check the Get Involved page of our website at ourcolorado.org to see where we will be exploring this spring.

You gotta lose to win, and CEC won big!

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As some of you may have heard, CEC was a top $5,000 ‘High Five’ prizewinner in the second annual Colorado Gives Day in December. We’re pretty sure that our success had a lot to do with the challenge issued by our Executive Director, Elise Jones, and here, in her own words, is a recount of the day.

“Sometimes you have to lose to win. Or, more specifically, to sacrifice one’s personal dignity in order to rally the team to victory. Such was the case for me when CEC participated for the first time in Colorado Gives Day (CGD) this past December 6th.

Everyone should wear a tiara at least once in their life: Elise on the Capitol steps (Beka Wilson)

Sponsored by Community First Foundation and FirstBank, CGD is designed to increase charitable giving to the state’s many worthy nonprofits. CEC’s board and staff agreed to help out by soliciting donations from their friends and family members.

To maximize CGD donations to CEC, our development director Beka not so innocently asked me if I’d be willing to issue a challenge to staff and board, a bet if you will, to inspire them to double down on their fundraising efforts. “Sure,” I innocently replied. “I’m a team player.”

“Okay, then – how about you agree to wear a princess dress and recite poetry on the steps of the Capitol if we bring in at least 250 donations.” As my jaw dropped in horror, Beka hastened to calm me down. “Not to worry,” she said. “It will be a tough goal for us to reach.” So I reluctantly agreed.

Little did I know how just how inspiring seeing me traipse around in a princess outfit would be to staff, board members and donors. We blew by our goal, galvanizing nearly 450 supporters to give more than $37,000 for CEC’s important conservation work. In fact, CEC won one of the “High Five” $5,000 prizes for bringing in the most donors for a mid-sized organization! As you might have guessed, I was both delighted and completely chagrined.

Days later, there I was, decked out in white taffeta and satin, tiara on my head and wand in my hand, riding on the 16th Street shuttle up to the Capitol. I was surrounded by gleeful staff who were snapping photos of the shocked faces of my fellow shuttle occupants. As I gamely sashayed up the Capitol steps to orate the obligatory poem (not an easy thing to do with all of those billowing petticoats!), I naively thought the episode would soon be behind me. Alas, the Facebook post of my devoted staffs’ video was highlighted in the Denver Post’s GCD coverage as an example of how area nonprofits went the extra mile to encourage donations—see the article by going here.

My dignity recovered, however, as I pondered how my 15 minutes of humble pie helped leverage $37,000 for Colorado’s environment, which as hourly rates go, isn’t half bad.

The moral of this princess fairy tale is two-fold: never take yourself too seriously and personal sacrifice is always a net gain in support of a great cause like CEC!”

A Season of West Slope Hiking

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Beautiful fall day in Hunter Canyon.

Beautiful fall day in Hunter Canyon.

The true chill of winter has finally hit Western Colorado after a full fall in CEC’s West Slope field office. Since August 27th we’ve hosted a series of adventures into our big backyard, exploring many of our region’s Wilderness Study and Wilderness Proposal sites. The outings drew an array of savvy hikers, from ages 17 to 70, who got a chance to see the nooks and crannies of the Grand Valley and beyond.

The explorations were an intimate opportunity to learn more about the process of conservation on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. The passage of the Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA) in 1975 directed BLM to identify Wilderness Study Areas (WSA), which encouraged involved community members to supplement the BLM’s efforts by mapping additional special places and identifying Citizen Wilderness Proposals (CWP). From there, conservation organizations (such as CEC) have pushed for permanent protections for these lands by having them legislatively designated as Wilderness Areas or National Conservation Areas (NCA). Today there remains a network of Colorado Canyon Country Wilderness Proposal Areas (CCCWP) that are being tracked for the possibility of conservation designation. During the West Slope Fall Hiking Series we visited a number of them and finished with a trek through our favorite local NCA.

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Harvest Hoedown

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Waiting on Trial with a rollicking set. (Jolynne Woodcock)

The Grand Valley’s expansive desert geography offers refuge for a variety of endeavors. The resource-rich landscape is dotted with oil and gas leases in an ever growing and controversial exploration. In the same setting you’ll find dinosaur quarries, renowned mountain biking, excellent off-season hiking, and endless routes for off-road vehicle use. To the west the Colorado National Monument awes thousands of out-of-state visitors every year, and at the far east end of the valley sits the quaint town of Palisade. In Palisade you’ll find a bounty of agriculture, including proud peaches and vibrant vineyards. With this being the season of harvest, Colorado Environmental Coalition decided this would the perfect setting for our new and improved fall fundraiser, the Harvest Hoedown.

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FOND’s Fall Fest and the keys to preserving the magic of an incredible public landscape!

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Base camp at the FOND Fall Fest '11. (Thad V'Soske)

It was a breathtaking drive a few weeks back from Whitewater to Gateway along the Unaweep-Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway en route to the FOND Fall Fest. Vibrant clusters of red, orange, and yellow scrub oak intermingled with lichens of the same shades – a natural graffiti tagged the granite walls of Unaweep Canyon proclaiming the arrival of fall!

I’ve traveled this route quite a few times in the last 3 years and without fail each time I weave through the contours of this mysterious canyon a multitude of questions bubble up and into my consciousness. How this canyon formed? Is that granite!? Who lives out here? Can I turn down that road? Is that a wild herd of Elk!? Can I hunt in these parts? Whoa cool waterfall! Is there public access?

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FOND’s Fall Fest and the keys to preserving the magic of an incredible public landscape!

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Base camp at the FOND Fall Fest '11. (Thad V'Soske)

It was a breathtaking drive a few weeks back from Whitewater to Gateway along the Unaweep-Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway en route to the FOND Fall Fest. Vibrant clusters of red, orange, and yellow scrub oak intermingled with lichens of the same shades – a natural graffiti tagged the granite walls of Unaweep Canyon proclaiming the arrival of fall!

I’ve traveled this route quite a few times in the last 3 years and without fail each time I weave through the contours of this mysterious canyon a multitude of questions bubble up and into my consciousness. How this canyon formed? Is that granite!? Who lives out here? Can I turn down that road? Is that a wild herd of Elk!? Can I hunt in these parts? Whoa cool waterfall! Is there public access?

Continue reading →