Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers - Into the Big 15 (Winter 2010)

Amy Capron
Chair, RFOV Board of Directors

Even as financial troubles plagued governments and corporate sponsorships, volunteerism and individual donors were on the rise last year. RFOV had a fantastic project year, successfully adding a new evening project program!

In August of 2008, the RFOV Board of Directors had finalized an expansion plan that we hoped to advance in 2009. But as the changing economy demanded that we cut back on most of those plans, we found that one concept still resonated: the evening projects. Many of you have told us that Saturdays can be difficult with your busy schedules, and evenings would work better. We took heed!

Our season kicked off last May with the Thursday night series on the Red Hill Trails near Carbondale, from 5 p.m. to 8-ish (depending on the light). The projects were very well received, with 103 volunteers, 27 of whom were new to RFOV!

June was a busy month for us, with three projects happening up and down the valley: a renovation to the Music Tent Trail in Aspen, the completion of the Wulfson Trail (uphill from the Glenwood Meadows shopping center in Glenwood Springs), and construction of the new Meadow Ranch Trail in Snowmass Village.

In July and August we helped with the renovation and master plan for the Smuggler Mountain Trail area. Another August project took us back to the Hay Park trail, where we’ve done extensive work in the past few years reconstructing and armoring a long section of washed-out trail. White Hill was our best-attended project of the season with 82 participants, ranging in age from 6 to 76! We built a fantastic ¾-mile loop from the Carbondale Elementary school through White Hill.

October ended our season with another hit project, where participants found great satisfaction in removing the invasive, water-sucking Tamarisk from the Colorado River corridor. We’ve been on a campaign with Trout Unlimited, Garfield County, LOVA Trails, Tamarisk Coalition and the City of Glenwood Springs, taking on these insidious, noxious shrubs for several years now.

Looking ahead to our 15th year, our project selection team has researched and lined up some exciting new projects – look for these later in the newsletter! To celebrate our 15th anniversary, we produced and mailed a special financial appeal to the community. We hope you received that and can take part in helping us celebrate our longevity in the valley and keep our trail stewardship mission alive for the next 15 years!

In addition to projects, the Board has been diligently reviewing the budget, and our marketing program. To help facilitate moving forward with our expansion plan, we are adding a Development Coordinator to our staff–look for that information soon!

We have also reinstated and reinvigorated the Town to Town Tour Committee in hopes of organizing early and expanding our volunteer and sponsorship core to make it viable again in 2011!