The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Working on a collaborative approach with other valley organizations
By Cayla Vidmar
The Gunnison Board of County Commissioners directed county staff to apply for a Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) Stewardship Impact Grant, with the aim “to improve the condition of our state’s lands by providing grants for outdoor stewardship projects,” according to a staff report from the town of Crested Butte.
Director of Gunnison County Community and Economic Development Cathie Pagano explained that she’s been working with a subgroup of the Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation (STOR) committee, comprised of Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association’s Dave Ochs, who is also the executive director of the Crested Butte Conservation Corps; Mel Yemma, Open Space and Creative District coordinator for the town of Crested Butte; and Hedda Peterson, stewardship director of the Crested Butte Land Trust.
The grant would fund an overall stewardship program, including outreach and education, restoration and maintenance, all of which would be supported by a new stewardship coordinator who would be hired.
There has been some concern about organizations in the valley now having to compete with the STOR committee for funding such as the GOCO grant. “What I think this is about is building capacity of the STOR committee, along with having someone on the ground, and to support the efforts of other groups in the county,” said Pagano. “We don’t want to compete, we don’t want to dilute the efforts of other groups, we want to bolster those efforts,” she concluded.
Pagano reported that the town of Crested Butte committed $5,000 in support of the grant, as well as the Crested Butte Land, Trust Gunnison Trails and the Town of Mt. Crested Butte. Pagano will be reaching out to the city of Gunnison, the Tourism Association and Crested Butte Nordic for financial support as well. Outgoing county commissioner Phil Chamberland suggested Pagano also reach out to the Gunnison Valley OHV Alliance (GOATS) for support.
