Find the latest in RMFI news, announcements, and media coverage here.
What a wonderful testimonial from a local Colorado Springs climber and guide:
"Thank you for the magnificent work you have done in the central area. The climbing trails have finally been clearly defined and constructed - and located in precisely the right places. True restoration has been established thanks to the netting and associated ground work. I had not been to the central area for months, until recently, so all your work was a fine surprise." - January 11, 2012
Let's face it: No one can argue that the most important thing to sustain life, including here in Colorado Springs, is water. It's a topic that should be near and dear to everyone. And to help pay homage, Colorado Springs Utilities is planning a local launch of Colorado Water 2012.
Thanks to 114 Indy Give! donors, RMFI raised $5,950... plus came in 2nd for most young donors in the environmental category ($750)... plus reached our matching grant provided by Bob and Elly Hostetler ($1,000). This totals $7,700. Also impressive, 40% of RMFI's donors were "young donors" in their 20s and 30s. This is the highest percentage in the entire environmental category.
A big thank you to everyone who gave and got the word out.
’Tis the season for giving and such charity should begin at home. That is the premise behind the creation of Colorado Gives Day and its slogan: “24 Hours to Give Where You Live.”
It's that time of year again... time to party. This is RMFI's largest social event of the year.
You are cordially invited to our annual fall gathering at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center. Enjoy food by La'au's Tacos, live music by The Mitguards, and a rare chance to try Warning Sign high-gravity beer (the official beer of the Craft Lager Fest). This is our largest social event of the year and serves as a thank you to our funders, partners, and volunteers, as well as an open house for those unfamiliar with our programs. Please join us!
The road is one of the worst — or best, depending on your interest in rock crawling — in Colorado, the often-loathed, sometimes-controversial forest track known as Lake Como Road.
An extra workday has been scheduled by the Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI) in the project it began this spring to close off social trails in the heavily used, central grassy area of the Garden of the Gods (just west of the Gateway Rock formations).
More than 100 Vail Resorts employees worked Thursday to restore an area in the Pike National Forest that was damaged by the 2002 Hayman fire.
We are thrilled to announce a BRAND NEW RMFI program for those who want to help educate Garden of the Gods park users about the importance of restoration and trail work.
The Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI) is pleased to announce that it will begin trail and restoration work on Blanca Peak in the summer of 2011. At 14,345 feet, Blanca Peak is the 4th highest summit in Colorado, towering 6,000 feet above the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado. The project will focus on reconstructing the summit trail from Como Lake to the summits of both Blanca Peak and its ridgeline neighbor, Ellingwood Point. The lack of a defined summit trail has resulted in a proliferation of user-created social trails, gullied and denuded areas, and severe vegetation loss.
Program sends them into the mountains for the summer
RMFI began the Strausenback Trail Reconstruction and Restoration Project in 2008 in an effort to address deteriorating sections on the trail and surrounding slopes. The Strausenback Trail, located near the Garden of the Gods Trading Post and South Spring Canon Picnic Area, is one of the most heavily used in the park as it provides direct access to the park’s interior rock formations from the southwest and exceptional scenic views of the Pikes Peak summit as well as the amazing sandstone formations of the Garden.
This summer an exciting new 3-year collaboration between the National Forest Foundation (NFF), Vail Resorts, and the USDA Forest Service will re-energize efforts to complete on-the-ground restoration work in the Hayman Burn area of the Upper South Platte watershed. Projects will be completed as part of the NFF’s Upper South Platte/Hayman Conservation Campaign. Areas damaged by the fire are still producing a large amount of sediment. The sediment is being delivered to the South Platte River, impacting water quality and wildlife habitat.
The mission of Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI) is to integrate environmental stewardship, education, and research through the exemplary restoration of key natural areas. RMFI works in partnership with a variety of local, state, and federal land management agencies to provide on-the-ground stewardship including, but not limited to, trail construction, restoration of social trails and undesignated campsites, stream and wetland restoration, and alpine restoration.
