Wildlands Restoration Volunteers

Youth & families -wrv provides diverse youth and their families with culturally relevant environmental education service learning. The program progresses from building knowledge close to home to critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making in the field. Monthly lessons and activities include restoration, outdoor skills, and careers in natural resources. Wrv offers a paid youth corps program in partnership with the city of lafayette, where youth learn restoration techniques, natural science, teamwork, and leadership. Most of wrv's youth & families programming is offered in both english and spanish. In 2024, over 774 youth engaged in restoration and leadership development.

Natural habitats - wrv's primary restoration program addresses a wide range of needs across our region, including designated wilderness areas, urban natural spaces, mountains, and plains. We strive for innovation by exploring new restoration techniques, with a recent focus on natural climate solutions like zeedyk structures. In 2024, dedicated volunteers planted over 10,401 plants, shrubs, trees, and willows to rebuild soil and provide resources for native species and shade for neighborhoods. Volunteers also installed 152 sediment and moisture-retaining structures in waterways to mitigate erosion and preserve critical resources.

Healthy forests -colorado's forests have faced catastrophic fires in recent years due to both climate change and decades of fire suppression. In 2024, volunteers replanted 6.5 acres of severely burned ponderosa pine forest from the 2020 cameron peak fire and the 2012 high park fire where natural pine regeneration was low. The seedlings used in these plantings were grown from cones collected by wrv volunteers in the fall of 2023. In 2024, volunteers also manually thinned overly dense forested areas, reducing stand density across six acres by building burn piles with the material on five acres. Wrv used material from one acre in low-tech process-based restoration by strategically placing the material in the stream to build bdas and pals (beaver dam analogs and post-assisted log structures). These efforts contribute to the restoration of healthy forests, the return of native species, and the mitigation of fire-related risks. 2024 expense 174,534 revenue 149,898 plants and pollinators - native plants attract and support thriving native wildlife. At wrv, we eradicate weeds that are legally mandated for removal, and collect native seeds for grow-out and replanting degraded habitat. Weeds otherwise displace natives and disrupt natural systems. In 2024, volunteers weeded 253 acres of habitat, and devoted over 2,836 hours collecting, cleaning, and cultivating the seeds of native trees, shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers well-suited to thrive in our region. Volunteers also assist in nurturing plants in our greenhouse and nursery. Thanks to these and many other projects, thousands of residents are now equipped with the knowledge to identify and safely remove noxious weeds, preventing further damage to native habitats. 2024 expenses 147,224 revenue 95,766 community building and training - in 2024, wrv nurtured and developed a dedicated and highly skilled community of volunteers and donors who are committed to caring for the land. Through their in-kind labor valued at over 977,286, this group completed an impressive 188 restoration projects. These efforts positively impacted 1,308 acres of habitat. In 2024, wrv hosted 23 courses, training 300 volunteers in skills including restoration design, crew leadership, trail maintenance and construction, and more. Moreover, in 2024, wrv conducted its fourth year of spanish/english bilingual leadership training, resulting in the engagement of 563 volunteers using spanish. This initiative has fostered greater inclusion and participation within our volunteer community, further expanding our impact. 2024 expenses 103,912 revenue 15,103 vital rivers - waterways and wetlands are essential for our communities and support over 90% of colorado's wildlife. They provide opportunities for residents and tourists to enjoy activities like fishing, rafting, and bird watching. Moreover, clean drinking water is crucial. Recent efforts have used beaver mimicry to jump-start the recovery of streams through natural processes that require less-intensive engineering and rely more on the system to guide its return to health. Wrv pairs this work with forest thinning, which in turn provides the materials for the instream restoration. In 2024 volunteers restored 5,882 feet of stream channel and shoreline, 2.2 acres of wetland, and 10 acres of streamside habitat, making a significant contribution to the preservation and restoration of vital waterways. 2024 expenses 43,027 revenue 18,688