COLORADO SPRINGS — Getting out and exploring Colorado Springs and the surrounding area doesn't need to break the bank. We're highlighting businesses, organizations, and happenings that you can engage with for under $40; the focus for this article (and outing) is the Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI).
Founded back in 1982, this Colorado Springs non-profit works to maintain and steward public lands across the Pikes Peak region and Southern Colorado.
What we do is partner with land managers at every level of the government from city to county, state [and] federal and we work with them to identify maintenance and stewardship priorities and opportunities on public lands.... Once we've identified those with our land management partners, we deploy our crews and somewhere between 800 to a 1,000 volunteers every year to address those maintenance priorities and help take care of those places that make the Pikes Peak region so special.
RMFI organizes between 60 - 80 volunteer work days in a given year that take place across 13 - 20 different locations; between RMFI crews and volunteer efforts, the nonprofit is responsible for more than 20,000 labor hours being put towards public land stewardship on an annual basis.
RMFI maintains a calendar where you can sign up for volunteer work days and take part in maintaining trails and open spaces; the organization also works with a number of groups, ranging from schools, businesses, military, etc to schedule out "custom group workday(s)."
The hope from this nonprofit is to create a sense of ownership and responsibility for Southern Colorado's public lands with everyone who volunteers.
My dream scenario is that a volunteer comes out here and does some trail work and then they come back in a few weeks, a month, in a year maybe... and they see something they built and they feel that connection to the place. Like, I made this place better, safer, [and] enjoyable to access for generations to come, and this right here is what I did. I hope people feel that deeper connection to these places.
The Rocky Mountain Field Institute is also working towards the creation and launch of a new membership program, which will include additional opportunities to engage with Southern Colorado's public lands and public land stewards.
This program will offer members who make recurring donations the opportunity to engage with a community of regional land stewards. Activities will include routine hiking programs and access to member events like a public land speaker series. Members will also receive benefits from partner organizations, such as discounts at local breweries. Learn more by subscribing to the RMFI newsletter at www.rmfi.org [rmfi.org], or by contacting Sam Hinkle at sam@rmfi.org.
For additional information on the Rocky Mountain Field Institute, click here.
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