The Community Foundation Boulder County is continuing its long-held investments in local nonprofits focused on environmental education, outreach and restoration, as well as wildlife rehabilitation.
Environmental education and protection is a proverbial marathon – not a sprint. Accordingly – thanks to our generous donors – the Community Foundation Boulder County is continuing its long-held investments in local nonprofits focused on environmental education, outreach and restoration, as well as wildlife rehabilitation.
We spoke to a few of our grantees about their purpose and priorities in shifting perceptions over the long term toward better guarding and appreciating Boulder County environs, and beyond.
“Our focus is two-fold,” says Linda Tyler, Executive Director. “We rehabilitate orphaned and injured animals, and educate the community about wildlife.”
Indeed, the center – between Longmont and Lyons – treats an astonishing 3,500 mammals, birds and waterfowl, representing some 200 wildlife species; at the same time, its outreach programming reaches more than 4,200 children and adults.
“Both our programs are growing,” Linda continues. “Other similar organizations along the Front Range, in our state, and in our region have been forced to close their doors in the last two to four years due to lack of funding. We are now the only wildlife rehabilitation organization from Pueblo to Wyoming.”
With a year-round staff of just eight people, plus 25 seasonal staff, the wildlife center relies heavily on volunteer engagement. “Many of our rehabbers care for animals out of their own homes, on their own dime – often for many years,” says Linda. “We always need more volunteers.
“Many people aren’t aware that rehabbers aren’t funded by the state and have to do their own fundraising,” she adds. “Too many of us don’t really understand the value of wildlife rehab – until it’s gone.
“Think of us as a clearing house for anything related to wildlife. We want to be top of mind for people when they have questions about wildlife, in general. Additionally, beyond Boulder County, we want to help similar programs succeed.”
Donate or get involved with the Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, and help threatened and endangered wildlife with a voluntary contribution through the “nongame and endangered wildlife cash fund” on your Colorado tax return!
“Our Colorado Butterfly Monitoring Program is designed to better understand Colorado ecology,” says Sarah Garrett, Curatorial Lepidopterist. “Butterflies are indicator species, which means they tell us a lot about the health of our environment. And a diversity of butterflies means a diversity of plants – in turn, butterflies help us to assess the overall health of the environment we live in.”
Over time, the goal of the program is to provide data that land managers can use when making conservation decisions, and to raise awareness about Colorado butterflies and their habitats.
“In partnership with 13 other states and regions, we’re using citizen science – modeled after the scalable Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network – to monitor the trends and fluctuations of butterfly populations,” continues Sarah. “Since 2013, we’ve expanded from nine to more than 100 sites, relying on more than 100 volunteers.”
Sarah hopes the program will eventually expand beyond the Front Range, including Colorado’s desert and higher-elevation areas. Upcoming trainings for volunteer butterfly monitors will be held in May. Interested? Contact Sarah at sgarrett@butterflies.org for more information.
Based in Westminster, the Butterfly Pavilion is home to more than 5K animals, including some 1,600 butterflies. Get involved and learn more about programs for children and families, as well as adults and seniors – and visit the Butterfly Pavilion’s extraordinary tropical rainforest, gardens and nature trail!
“We’ve been around for more than 60 years,” says Alyson Duffey, Director of Development & Marketing. “Most people may recognize us from our summer camp programming, but we offer other important initiatives that we’d like to bring to the forefront in the community.
“For example, we created Nature For All from the premise that all youths – regardless of race, ethnicity, or family income – deserve the opportunity to connect with nature.
“In our community and across the country, low-income and Latino youths have less access to nature and the outdoors. In response, Nature for All awards camp scholarships and subsidized school programs to more than 6K low-income and/or Latino youths each year.”
A related Thorne initiative is Nature Kids Lafayette. “The Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) board awarded a $2.8M grant to Nature Kids/Jovenes de la Naturaleza to connect low-income and Latino youths living in Lafayette to nature and the outdoors,” explains Alyson. “We’re also working with the City of Lafayette to restructure neighborhoods so kids and families have access to nature in less than 10 minutes.
“Currently, there are barriers to reaching beautiful neighborhood spots, like a meadow, a bike path, or a park. We’re changing that.” Learn more about the Thorne Nature Experience, and how to get involved!
“Cottonwood grew its roots in Boulder County,” says Ford Church, Founder and Executive Director of the institute now based in Denver, but still serving Boulder County. Specifically, the institute frequently collaborates with Cal-wood, and is currently a lead partner in the Nature Kids/Jovenes de la Naturaleza (NKJN) program, mentioned above.
“It’s a unique collaboration among more than 20 community partners to provide a K-12 pipeline of high-quality environmental education opportunities to underserved students in Lafayette,” continues Ford. NKJN will begin during the 2017-2018 school year.
Beyond connecting students to nature, the Cottonwood Institute goes a step further. “We also aim to empower young people to take action to improve their schools, the community, and the environment for future generations,” says Ford. “Well before the GOCO grant was announced, we’d been meeting with other environmental educators – like the Thorne Nature Experience – to identify and discuss gaps in environmental education.
“We realized there was a lot of programming for elementary- and middle-schoolers, but it dropped off after the 5th and 6th grades.”
In response, the institute’s Community Adventure Program (CAP) is now being offered at New Vista High School, and other schools. “It’s a class that’s offered during the school day for academic credit,” explains Ford. Students go on hikes and overnight camping trips, and learn about and discuss local environmental issues. They also choose an issue to address as a class, and collaborate with other local organizations to design and implement a student-directed project to positively address their chosen concern.
“CAP students have tackled everything from flood restoration to wildfire mitigation projects,” Ford says. “When we succeed in sparking the curiosity of young people, they become empowered.
“Instead of encouraging children and youths to change the world, our philosophy is to encourage them to change their world by making small adjustments in how they live their own lives, and by learning to tread lightly on our planet.
“Nature is everywhere. It’s in your own backyard. And when we empower students through service learning, we help them overcome the constant negative bombardment of information about climate change, water pollution and more. We teach them to do something about those issues close to come, and the influence of their actions ripples outward.”
Learn more about the Cottonwood Institute’s far-reaching approach to environmental education, and ways to get involved.
To continue the work of your Community Foundation – to help tackle air quality, water usage, recycling and more – please make a gift today.
