Two Fremont County nonprofits, including Fremont County Search and Rescue and the Cañon City Noon Lions, are slated to host a Trivia Event at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 at Pathfinder Park Event Center. Assemble a team of up to six people and register at www.fremontsar.com. The night will feature four rounds of trivia with prize drawings, food offered by P-Dubs Rollings Smokehouse, and refreshments provided by Bar Hoppers Bartender Services.
Central Colorado Conservancy's 2024 Stewardship Gala a Sweet Success!
Central Colorado Conservancy held its Stewardship Gala at the Mt. Princeton Pavilion on September 11th. It was a fun-filled evening that generated more than $42,000 for the Conservancy's work in its communities protecting and restoring the lands and waters that sustain Central Colorado.
The Stewardship Gala is the Conservancy's largest fundraiser of the year and the nearly 170 attendees enjoyed a wonderful evening filled with a silent and live auction and had a blast racing for their favorite sweet treat during the Dessert Dash.
"We are grateful for the generosity of our supporters at our Stewardship Gala," said Wendy McDermott, executive director of Central Colorado Conservancy. "The lands and waters of Central Colorado are what sustain the things we love most about living here: the breathtaking views, flourishing wildlife, thrilling recreation, rural character, and our unmatched quality of life. With the funds raised at our Gala, we look forward to increasing our positive impact through our numerous projects aimed at safeguarding our rural character, lands, waters and wildlife for current and future generations."
McDermott continued, "Our Stewardship Gala would not be a success without the numerous businesses and individuals that sponsored the gala, contributed wonderful items to our auction, and provided scrumptious desserts. The Mt. Princeton staff are wonderful to work with, and the evening's emcee, Dan R, made the evening lively for all."
Founded in 2001, Central Colorado Conservancy has protected nearly 7,000 acres of open space lands and critical habitat for wildlife on private lands through conservation easements and land purchases. In addition, they have protected roughly 3,400 acres through non-perpetual Agricultural Conservation Agreements in partnership with Chaffee County. The Conservancy also partners with local agricultural producers on innovative projects, such as virtual fencing, that help to keep working lands working; restores streams and wetlands, such as in the Badger Watershed; and coordinates forest health and urban gardening initiatives. Lastly, the Conservancy's Hands for Lands program connects volunteers with on the ground stewardship projects such as irrigation ditch cleaning in the spring with area ranches.
At their Stewardship Gala, the Conservancy recognized the Badger Creek Watershed Partnership as the 2024 Conservation Award winner. "The Badger Creek Watershed Partnership received our 2024 Conservation Award because it exemplifies collaboration and innovation working at the watershed scale across federal, state and private land ownership to improve land health and restore critical riparian areas," said Wendy McDermott, executive director of Central Colorado Conservancy.
Since the formation of the Badger Partnership in 2016, it has secured over $700,000 in grant funding to implement the following activities:
Utilized low-tech, process-based restoration techniques to restore over 10 miles of Badger Creek and its tributaries, thereby reconnecting nearly 218 acres of riparian habitat (of which roughly 124 acres are wetlands).
Planted over 16,000 willows to jump-start the creek's ability to slow erosion and filter runoff, improving water quality in Badger Creek and its downstream confluence with the gold medal trout waters of the Arkansas River.
Installed 1.6 miles of livestock fencing and created two new off-channel water points that improved grazing management on 980 acres of private land and 7929 acres of public lands, and reduced cattle pressure on four adjacent riparian areas.
While the Badger Creek Watershed Partnership includes nearly 50 individuals, there is a core group that includes the following entities:
Badger Creek Ranch
Bureau of Land Management
Central Colorado Conservancy
Colorado Mesa University
Colorado Department of Natural Resources
Colorado Natural Heritage Program
Colorado State Land Board
Everett Ranch
EcoMetrics
Fremont Conservation District
McMurray Land & Livestock Company
Natural Resources Conservation Service
U.S. Forest Service
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