Jim Neu
RFOV Board Member

That is why I’ve been volunteering with RFOV since 2007 and have recently helped form Two Rivers Trails (TRT) in Glenwood Springs. We need to harness the existing resources of like-minded individuals and organizations to make progress. When we collaborate, the impact is exponential—together, we can provide more miles of trail for outdoor enthusiasts than if we work alone. (Plus, it’s just more fun when your friends and neighbors join you in working toward a common goal.) 

Like many of my neighbors in this part of the state, I live here largely because of the outdoor recreational opportunities. And I admit, I want more well-designed, sustainable trails out the back door in my hometown of Glenwood Springs; but I cannot build them on my own. The same applies to larger groups like RFOV striving to carry out a vision or achieve a goal.

In addition to the dozen or so regularly scheduled projects each year, RFOV is partnering with groups and nonprofits with symbiotic goals by lending tools, providing consulting, and helping with volunteer recruitment and publicity. RFOV further encourages groups to take ownership of their areas and provides technical and logistical support to get them off the ground.

Take TRT, for example. After the City of Glenwood Springs received 198 acres of open space as part of the Glenwood Meadows Mall development approval, interested Glenwood residents assisted the City with creating a master plan for what has become known as Wulfsohn Mountain Park. The master plan included a trail network that RFOV began constructing in 2005. Over the course of three Saturdays, volunteers completed the Main Wulfsohn Trail that traverses the property.

During four evening projects in 2010, RFOV constructed an additional 1,800 feet of new single-track. The work invigorated several citizens already committed to this trail network. They formed TRT, which is dedicated to planning, building and maintaining unpaved trails for bicycling and hiking in the Glenwood Springs area.

RFOV has assisted TRT with its organizational documents, advertising its inaugural trail work day, offering to be an umbrella organization for donations, guiding the purchase of tools, and collaborating on evening projects coming up in May 2011. TRT plans to continue these evening projects on its own throughout the summer.

We are fortunate to have access to so much public land. It’s up to each of us to take part in the planning and stewardship of that land. The best part is that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel; RFOV has established the expertise, the organizational structure and the tools (both literally and figuratively) to support such efforts.

If your group, business, or nonprofit is ready to organize to maintain your favorite stretch of public land, RFOV is ready and willing to help!