Nearly 75 volunteers of all ages spent their Saturday, April 23, at Chatfield State Park restoring an eroded trail located near the park’s Audubon Center – a bird sanctuary and educational center. This nature trail, heavily used by both park patrons and for Audubon Center programming, was in desperate need of repair.

Unique to this volunteer event was that the entire effort was organized and led by high school students participating in the statewide nonprofit Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado’s (VOC) Cairn Youth Program. Students accepted to the program spent the past nine months learning about community leadership, outdoor stewardship, and how to work with volunteers and land managers. The students planned the volunteer project, recruited volunteers of all ages to participate, went through crew leading training, and led crews of volunteers in the work. 

This “final project” for the Cairn Youth Program participants – before they graduate from the program in May – comes at a time when Colorado's outdoor recreation industry is booming. The newly created Colorado Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry is helping Colorado’s outdoor industry thrive. This includes making sure Colorado is the kind of place where outdoor enthusiasts want to live, and creating more outdoor industry jobs that are based in Colorado.

“Our youth are the outdoor stewards of tomorrow. Many students enrolled in the Cairn Youth Program may end up pursuing careers in Colorado’s outdoor industry, which currently generates 125,000 jobs in the state and that number is only expected to grow,” said Ann Baker Easley, VOC’s executive director.

“In the meantime, these high school students are caring for Colorado’s natural resources that bring so much joy and value to our state. Outdoor recreation in Colorado is a multi-billion dollar industry, and to support this industry, Colorado’s outdoors must remain beautiful and sustainable. That’s where volunteers play a key role,” said Baker Easley. “We are extremely proud of the high school students in our Cairn program who have proven to be true outdoor stewardship leaders.”

View photos from this project on the Cairn Youth Program Facebook page.