On April 11, Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers (RFOV) announced its summer and fall community projects. The Carbondale-based nonprofit promotes stewardship of public lands through volunteer projects, events and other educational and community activities.
RFOV was established in 1995 by David Hamilton, Kevin O’Brien and Michael Hutton. Since then, RFOV has worked to immerse volunteers in the ways of stewardship in partnership with federal and state agencies, and local organizations. Recently RFOV expanded its efforts in the Crystal River Valley.
Volunteer programs and training sessions for this season began on May 18 and will conclude on Oct.15. The organization is expanding its trail crew efforts to care for high-priority areas in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass area. It will also host the Marble Stewardship Weekend Extravaganza, June 24-25.
RFOV is offering an additional summer session for its popular youth program, “Adventure Stewards,” plus, “Little Explorers,” a childcare program for volunteers with children ages 4-8. Projects this season focus on wilderness restoration, trail maintenance and backpacking.
A recent volunteer project involved trail maintenance and restoration of the Mushroom Rock and Blue Ribbon trails. Volunteers worked three consecutive Tuesday evenings, May 2, 9 and 16, to clean those trails.
“We define stewardship as caring for the places that we care about. When you define it in that way, stewardship can mean many different things,” Program Director Melissa Daniels stated. “It can mean caring for the park next to your house, or it can mean caring for the trails.”
Daniels has been with RFOV since March of 2021 and worked closely with her colleagues and community members, instilling comradery between those who participate. She holds a Master’s Degree in natural resources and environmental sciences.
“We have an immense privilege to live in an incredibly beautiful place, with lots of opportunities to be outdoors, again, whether that’s at our local park or our backcountry trails. I think that we have a responsibility to take care of those places so that future generations can enjoy them,” she continued, “We care about stewarding our community. We’re not just out there fixing trails and planting; we’re also out there helping people build a sense of community with each other.”
Daniels highlighted RFOV’s launch of its chainsaw sawyer program, held May 19-21, which equipped volunteers with chainsaw safety skills to be utilized during fire mitigation projects.
Sara Gilbertson, RFOV’s communications and engagement director, praised the training designed by Daniles for each project. Gilbertson has been involved with RFOV for nearly a year and has a background with the World Wildlife Conservation Fund and National Geographic.
“On the 2023 project season schedule, you’ll see it says, ‘Register here, come on out, join one of our crews, do some work and meet new people,’” Gilbertson stated. “Those opportunities are what we refer to as community projects. We also have projects where volunteers learn specific skills, such as using a chainsaw or the basics of restoration or rock work. These training sessions are great as they enable volunteers to become more highly skilled.”
Gilbertson echoed Daniels’ sentiment that engaging volunteers in restoration efforts helps people become more involved with their community while caring for our lands.
“At community projects, everybody introduces themselves to each other, and we share information about ourselves — like in a staff meeting. [This is] why we engage with as many volunteers as possible, so they can all meet each other and become more embedded in our shared community,” Gilbertson explained.
She and Daniels explained that RFOV’s website shows the level of labor expected for each offering. This feature allows those looking to get involved with stewardship activities to choose whether they want to do communication-based volunteer work or the heavy lifting that comes with the restoration projects.
RFOV is currently recruiting new volunteers, and a full schedule of volunteer activities is available on their website. To sign up, visit www.rfov.org or stop by their office at the Third Street Center in Carbondale.