Colorado Springs, Colo. – On Friday, October 7, 32 volunteers led by the statewide nonprofit, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC), took part in an important trail restoration effort at Cheyenne Mountain Park.

Volunteers were with Lockheed Martin and The Mission Continues, who are working together to expand opportunities for veterans to continue serving their communities.

Cheyenne Mountain State Park, just south of Colorado Springs, is nestled in the beautiful landscape that inspired the song, "America the Beautiful." Due to the popularity of the park and its 20 miles of top-notch hiking and biking trails for all fitness levels to enjoy, significant erosion and trail widening has occurred overtime. In addition, a couple of regional trail races are taking place later this year, and unfortunately there’s not nearly enough park staff to contribute to the upkeep.

“Volunteers are crucial to Colorado Parks & Wildlife’s efforts and mission,” said project manager with VOC, Eric Falk. On this project, volunteers helped maintain trail tread, clear trail corridor, and repair small erosion-control structures on three different sections of trail – totaling 1,700’.

Among the volunteers on the project was Rick Walker, Lockheed Martin Civil, Commercial and International Ground Director. “Being able to partner with The Mission Continues and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado on this event, furthers Lockheed Martin’s commitment to serving our military and veterans, as well as all of our communities,” said Walker. “It was great to see so many people come to support this community effort and better Colorado’s outdoor recreation.”

The work accomplished on this project will help reduce the erosive impacts of water and of high volume trail use at Cheyenne Mountain State Park – going a long way in defining a sustainable and complete trail for users to enjoy for generations to come.

Contact: 

Kellie Flowers, kellie@voc.org, 303-715-1010, ext. 130

Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is a statewide nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to motivating and enabling people to be active stewards of Colorado’s natural resources. Since 1984, VOC’s award-winning volunteer, youth, and leadership training programs have engaged nearly 105,000 people of all ages in caring for Colorado’s outdoors – a total donated labor value of $21 million. Such volunteer efforts have made a lasting impact on Colorado through hands-on work in fire and flood restoration, trail building and maintenance, tree planting and re-forestation, and more.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 98,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

The Mission Continues, a 501 nonprofit organization, empowers veterans facing the challenge of adjusting to life at home to find purpose through community impact. They deploy veterans on new missions in their communities, so that their actions will inspire future generations to serve.