Rio Grande Watershed Conservation & Education Initiative

Programs: Natural resources conservation youth camp 3 day long camp to teach children ages 8-13 about natural resources and how to conserve them for future generations. The camp can accommodate 70 students annually. We had 60 students attend in 2017. The orgnization receives donated services and use of facilities with a fair value of $8,000 for this program.

class 2 field educational programs in which the curriculum provides students and teachers in grades k-12 an opportunity to experience conservation in the classroom that is tied to colorado content standards. This provides pre and post learning, in class hands-on activities and a field component. Curriculum includes poster contest, community events, river trailer and ground water models, wetland trips, farm, field and wildlife area tours, a pumpkin patch, and water festival. Approximately 2,905 k-12 students participated in 2017 programming. The program has received three educational awards for outstanding conservation education, from the colorado association of conservation districts and the colorado association of environmental education. The organization receives donated services and use of facilities with a fair value of $14,650 for this program.

the organization is participating in a soil health project. The project is to document soil health improvement levels in areas across the san luis valley. The project will detail the agronomic feasablitlity of soil health by defining methods, time frame, and economics of adpoting certain practices while growing a variety of crops in a variety of soil types. These initial tests established the baseline data for the study. The organization received donated services and use of farm land with fair value of $2,151,360 for this program.

slv envirothon workshops for students in grades 9-12 which focuses on the 5 natural resource topics used in the state, national and international envirothon competition. Students receive instructional and experiential learning through workshops facilitaded by natuarl resource management professionals on the topics of forestry, aquatic ecology, wildlife, soil and land use, and a current issue, this program is in its 5th year. In 2017, there were four high schools and 20 high school students who participated in the year-long workshops and colorado state envirothon competition. The organization received donated services and the use of facilities with a fair value of $2,175 for this program.