2013-Youth Stewardship Summit

Start Date-End Date: 08/01/2013-08/04/2013 Land Manager Office: USFS - Boulder Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Beverly Baker Funding Partner: CPW - Golden Gate Canyon State Park Programmatic Partner: USFS - Boulder Ranger District Summary: Join high school students from all over the state for a 4 day, 3 night camping trip at the Pickle Gulch Campground near Black Hawk. Description: VOC's first ever Youth Stewardship Summit will focus on leadership development, outdoor recreation, environmental education, and a variety of stewardship projects. Taking place at the Pickle Gulch Campground near Black Hawk, this location will provide a wilderness atmosphere that is still close to emergency resources. High School Students and Young Adults from all over Colorado will partake in a leadership develop curriculum that will lead up to a monetary award of over $1,000 for best stewardship project ideas (sponsored by Outdoor Nation). Participants will also to partake in flyfishing, hiking, and ghost-town tours as part of the outdoor recreation opportunities. Evenings will consist of campfire speakers that will talk about environmental ethics, wilderness leadership, as well as astronomy (telescopes included!). The stewardship portion of the long weekend will consist of invasive species removal, habitat restoration, historic preservation, and some trail maintanence. There will be a no more than 10:1 youth to adult ratio that insures safety - that being said, we are also looking for interested Mentors (young adults) to apply! Please contact VOC's Youth and Family Projects Manager with questions and/or to request an application: emily@voc.org APPLICATION DEADLINE: JULY 12, 2013 SPONSORS Starbucks Freeport-McMaRon Copper & Gold Foundation Outdoor Nation New Belgium Brewery Lincoln Hills Cares Colorado Mountain Express Camelbak Lunch: Garbanzo Latitude/Longitude: 39.841932, -105.525276 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 70 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 14 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 57 Total Volunteer Days: 71 Total Unique Volunteers: 71 Total Volunteer Hours: 1181 Staff Hours: 491 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Successes and Challenges: Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: National Park Service (Sand Dunes) spoke one evening. Could have done better onsite with partnering land managers talking about WHY the projects were significant. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: see i-drive folder -- for staff, partner feedback. I:\Documents\Community Stewardship Programs\Youth and Stewardship Education\Youth Summit 2013\Evaluations.Reports Description of Accidents/Incidents: Fran tripped and had a black eye. One minor sprained ankle - Brooklyn (youth) in camp. Description of Work Completed: After four days of camping, outdoor leadership activities, and stewardship service projects, young participants in Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado's Youth Stewardship Summit returned home inspired. Nearly 60 high school youth representing 22 cities in Colorado participated in the 4-day summit, held at Pickle Gulch Campground in Black Hawk in early August. Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is a statewide nonprofit volunteer organization that works to motivate and enable people to be active stewards of Colorado's natural resources. The Youth Stewardship Summit is among several youth programs offered by the organization, designed to encourage the next generation of stewards of Colorado's outdoors and help youth develop a lifelong commitment to caring for the state's natural resources. 2013 marked the first year for the event. During the Summit, young participants had the opportunity to learn first-hand about land management challenges and critical stewardship needs in the state. They tackled numerous service projects in both the James Peak Wilderness and Golden Gate Canyon State Park, including building a new trail, restoring campground habitat, building tent platforms, and pulling acres of invasive weeds. "The four days that I spent at the summit were very eye opening," said Jonah Howe, an incoming junior at Grand Junction High School. "Not only did I get to help on stewardship projects like building stairs at a campsite and pulling invasive weeds, but I got to meet kids my age that were passionate about the outdoors and volunteering as well," he added. Participants also had the unique chance to compete for grant dollars to fund the best project idea for getting Colorado kids engaged in outdoor stewardship. The winning team included students from the San Luis Valley, Pueblo, and Salida. Their winning project, "Like a Hike," combines hiking with educational stops along the way to teach kids about skills in stewardship, camping, outdoor survival, and more. The team will work directly with the San Luis Valley Fish and Wildlife service to implement their project using a $1,000 grant award. "It's very exciting to see all the energy and ideas these kids have after participating in the Youth Stewardship Summit," said Emily Fenwick, summit organizer and Youth Program Manager for Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. "Many of the kids want to take what they've learned and start stewardship programs and projects in their own communities. They also appreciated the friends they made from all over the state and the many new experiences that helped them gain a greater appreciation for the outdoors," she added. Numerous supporters helped make this event possible, including The Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Outdoor Nation, Xcel Energy, The Starbucks Foundation, Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Foundation, New Belgium Brewery's Youth Environmental Education Grant, and Clif Bar & Company. In-kind donations were provided by Colorado Mountain Express, CamelBak, and Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill.