Photo Credit: William Helms

Protecting the Arkansas River Valley

Support GARNA

Kids learning science outdoors, neighbors meeting for a hike, river guides learning our community, more families composting and recycling — what brings all these values to our daily life here in the Upper Arkansas Valley? It’s GARNA, and we want you to be a part of it!

While we do earn public support through grants and contract services, voluntary donations from individuals and businesses help ensure that all of us who live here, and those that visit, can rely on GARNA for continued enjoyment of our public lands, flowing waters and outdoor way of life.

We encourage you to join our ranks as a member, but offer other ways to support GARNA through general donations, special funds and advised giving.  

General Donations

You can support GARNA through our General Fund, which helps our daily operational costs and staff support. You can also apply designations in the general donation form, including the Stage and Rail Historic Route and for our sustainability programs.

Planned Giving

Planned giving using investments or retirement accounts are a great way to support GARNA! Contact Jason to donate through planned giving.

Donor-Advised Fund

A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a charitable investments account that allows you to donate money, stock, or other assets in an established giving account. We work through the Chaffee County Community Foundation as the sponsor organization to make your giving easy.

Qualified Charitable Distribution

Qualified charitable distributions (QDC) and Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) allow donations directly from retirement accounts.  Learn More

Special Funds

Brett Beasley Memorial Scholarship

The inspiration of the Memorial Scholarship is to honor Brett Beasley, who was a partner and friend to GARNA and an employee of the USFS - Salida Ranger District. The Scholarship is awarded annually to a high school senior who is interested in pursuing a career in natural resources.

Chaffee Mobile Gear Library

The Chaffee Mobile Gear Library, a project of GARNA, is committed to improving access to the outdoors for everybody. The Chaffee Mobile Gear Library is more than just a gear lending program, it is an inclusive and empowering outdoor community. CMGL strives to support disinvested communities, uplift BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, and foster programming that centers around community, skill building, and outdoor empowerment.

ChaffeeGIVES is a year-round program of the Community Foundation and Colorado Gives Day to increase giving throughout the county. GARNA annually sets goals to fund special projects from Middle School-specific programming to outfitting the Valley View Schoolhouse Nature Learning Center. 

Program Milestones

Measuring GARNA's Impact

For more information on our most recently reported program milestones, view the Annual Report.

2023 GARNA Annual Report

Latest GARNA News

10th Annual Photo Contest

We’re excited to announce GARNA’s 10th annual photo contest! Through this fundraiser, GARNA celebrates extraordinary images that capture the Upper Arkansas River

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Garna Greater Arkansas River Nature Association - Education, stewardship, volunteering Salida - Plants alonside the riverbank
Gone to Seed by Kari Vanderburg
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