here. - Friends of the Yampa
Request for Funding and Partnership Water Sustainability Leadership Steamboat 2015 Since 1992, the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association and Colorado Mountain College have facilitated the Leadership Steamboat class, a leadership training program organized to develop leaders in business and community service. Each session, students are selected from a myriad of local businesses to meet roughly once a month and learn more about the community through field trips and forums designed around the basic elements of the local economy and politics as well as the issues, infrastructure, and local businesses that interest the class. Being a leader in our valley is a choice we make. Leadership can take a variety of forms; it can lie dormant for years and emerge suddenly due to a passion or life experience; it can be a lifestyle. Understanding the issues facing this valley, the politics, and the players is a first step in discovering what role we might play in improving this world, this valley, this community. Each year, Leadership Steamboat picks a project designed to improve the Yampa Valley. The 2015 project is “Catch the Drift” and focuses on educational improvement to empower user groups and stakeholders of the Yampa River. Catch the Drift ’s goal is: Fostering stewardship locally and statewide by cultivating education within the community and greater users of the Yampa River resulting in a wellrespected and protected Yampa River . Page 1 Why do we need to Catch the Drift ? We, the Leadership Steamboat class of 2015, recognize a need for education at the local and state level to illuminate the importance of the Yampa River as a precious recreational and water resource for Colorado. We also see a need for education between the many users and stakeholders of the Yampa River as multiple user groups and activities share what can be limited space. Currently, more education is needed to foster stewardship for the Yampa River. Misuse of the river, increased trash, and a straining of relationships between user groups threaten this precious resource. The impact that the Yampa River has on our community and the organizations that are working to protect it require more public awareness and greater support to renew interest in stewardship around the Yampa River. How do we Catch the Drift? Creating a culture surrounding the importance of the Yampa River is one tool to provide users with a more complete understanding of its value. Garnering community action and response to education programs and sustainability measures will ensure users of the Yampa River, both commercial and private, contribute to the protection of this valley’s greatest asset. We are working to serve as a link to local and regional organizations combining collaboration and outreach. Creating educational signage at heavily used areas along the river combined with our educational campaign Catch the Drift will bring renewed stewardship for the Yampa River. Catch the Drift Description: Catch the Drift has one mission, however we plan to implement four main components of the project to achieve this goal. 1. Knowledge Sharing/Education: Page 2 ∙ Leadership Steamboat combined with our local partners will create and install permanent educational signs along the core trail and Yampa River at highly trafficked areas. These signs will detail how to protect our rivers through safe recreational practices, preservation and understanding the Yampa’s inherent value. Areas of focus are water quality, water quantity and sustainability. The permanent educational signs will be designed in partnership with local youth, fostering community involvement. 2. Steamboat Stewardship Kit ∙ We will create a Stewardship Kit containing a campaign branded Mesh River Bag and branded reusable canteens to encourage healthy and sustainable practices for recreating on the Yampa River and in the Yampa Valley. The Stewardship Kits will be available for nonprofits to use for fundraising at the closure of the 2015 Leadership Steamboat project. 3. Community Education/Communication ∙ We will launch a marketing and communication campaign around the project titled Catch the Drift , including branding, logo, information brochures, and an informational video. ∙ Host an evening event (6:30 to 9 pm) on Thursday May 28th at the Chief Theatre that kicks off the Friends of the Yampa River Fest Weekend. At this event we will have a Catch the Drift themed discussion where speakers from our local and regional partners will lead seminars about topics relevant to this project; examples include Water Rights and Fish Habitat along the Yampa. ∙ Partner with Friends of the Yampa to promote and participate in a late summer or early fall “Yampa River CleanUp Day.” The goal is to increase community awareness and ongoing participation for this event. 4. Community Collaboration for Success ∙ Leadership Steamboat approaches this project as an outsider with the intention to bring all local and regional partners together to accomplish the mission of the project Page 3 Local and Regional Partners : The Leadership Steamboat class of 2015 is seeking local and regional stakeholders in the Yampa River to contribute to the project through sharing ideas, speakers, funding, and time to accomplish the goals lined out in this project summary. If you are interested in becoming a local or regional partner please contact Leadership Steamboat at: Leadership Steamboat Partnered with Friends of the Yampa Mailing Address PO Box 771654 Steamboat Springs, CO 80477 Sustainability of Project: Leadership Steamboat understands the importance of creating a structure of sustainability to continually support the project of 2015 for future years. We plan to partner with a local organization for future maintenance of the educational signage. Leadership Steamboat will look to install sustainable, long lasting educational signage that will require limited future maintenance. We are also hopeful that our “Catch the Drift” event, which kicks off River Fest weekend, will become a permanent fixture in that event’s schedule. Publicity: We have created a sponsorship kit outlining the publicity and advertising opportunities your organization will receive when partnering with the 2015 Leadership Steamboat class. Your organization or business is not only investing in the continued health of the Yampa River, but as an added bonus this opportunity will provide great exposure to your organization or business. Your donation may be tax deductible. For more information, please contact Leadership Steamboat. Page 4 Donor Information: Donor Name: _________________________________________________________ Donor Contact: ________________________________________________________ Title/Position: _________________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________________ City/St/Zip: ___________________________________________________________ Phone #: _____________________________________________________________ Website Address: ______________________________________________________ EMail Address: ________________________________________________________ 3 EASY WAYS TO GIVE: ● Check enclosed made payable to Friends of the Yampa with Catch the Drift in the Memo line in the amount of $ _________ ● Credit Card payment for $ _________ to Friends of the Yampa and the Catch the Drift project. Leadership Steamboat will contact you or your organization for payment information. ● Donate online at http://tinyurl.com/donatetocatchthedrift MAILING ADDRESS: Friends of the Yampa Catch the Drift PO Box 771654 Steamboat Springs, CO 80477 Page 5 We greatly appreciate your generosity, time and support! Page 6
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