From Education to Action: GARNA's Programs Empower Communities

GARNA is a community connector through the Youth Ecological Literacy Program, popular clubs, such as the Birding, Hiking and Book Clubs, as well as community education programs that teach residents and visitors how to steward the area. GARNA is a popular landing place for new residents to the area who want to know more about the valley’s natural resources, water management, public lands management and sustainability issues. They learn about these issues and more through GARNA programs ranging from fire ecology to composting and recycling, from water quality monitoring to mushroom and wildflower hikes.

GARNA public education programs reach over 5,000 people per year, with a Youth Ecological Literacy Program that reaches over 1,800 youth per year with place-based, pro-social and STEM programs in Chaffee, Lake and Fremont Counties.

GARNA manages the largest group of volunteers in the Upper Arkansas River valley through its Friends of Public Lands chapters, environmental education, and sustainability efforts. Each year, over 200 hardworking volunteers clean, maintain and improve the health of the river ecosystem in the Arkansas Headwater Recreation Area State Park, as well as the surrounding public lands managed by federal agencies. Volunteer workdays on public lands include the growing Chaffee Rec Adopters, which creates a collaborative culture around managing outdoor recreation and increasing volunteer abilities to be effective stewards of the valley’s major economic driver – our outdoor resources.

GARNA also administers the Chaffee County Heritage Area Advisory Board (CCHAAB), established by Chaffee County resolution in 2004. CCHAAB has completed numerous state and national level historic nominations, preserving Chaffee County’s rich history and agricultural heritage. In addition, CCHAAB plans and implements the Collegiate Peaks Scenic and Historic Byway, one of 26 Colorado driving byways that connect the dots between historic sites and acres of majestic scenery. The byway is instrumental for maintaining scenic viewsheds and enabling multi-modal byway offshoots such as the Leadville to Salida Stage and Rail Trail, a route between Leadville and Salida following the historic stagecoach roads and rail corridors.

GARNA programs also include waste diversion initiatives in partnership with Chaffee County, Poncha Springs, Buena Vista and Salida. Programs with Latinos Unidos and other communities of color offer opportunities to connect a diversity of community members and cross-pollinate public lands user groups. GARNA’s youth program also targets underserved youth by leading an effort to establish a community gear library. GARNA also partners with Chaffee County Boys and Girls Club, Get Outdoors Leadville, Buena Vista, Salida and Lake County School Districts, to make fun and educational outdoor learning available to all youth of the Upper Arkansas Valley.