Stewardship

Our stewardship projects are unique, impactful, and memorable opportunities for you and your friends and family to become stewards of public lands and to create your own special places on public lands.

HCCA’s conservation mission to protect the health, beauty, and integrity of public lands, waters, and wildlife provides our organization with clear targets for stewardship work.

Riparian restoration, water quality improvement, habitat enhancement, monitoring Wilderness integrity, removing invasive species, and preserving native species are areas where HCCA has contributed over the years and will continue to step up to help public lands moving forward.

Support HCCA's Work

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Why Stewardship?

Since 2018, HCCA has been fostering on-the-ground, volunteer-driven stewardship projects that work closely with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the United States Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.

HCCA’s Stewardship is collaborative with other local organizations to provide opportunities that engage and connect people to public lands in the Gunnison Country. On these projects, people will learn more about public lands, connect with other interested people, and accomplish projects with positive resource outcomes.

Our projects contribute in areas where land management agencies don’t have the staff to keep up. With reduced budgets and less work force, land managers don’t always have the ability to take on restoration, reclamation, watershed, and wildlife projects—HCCA seeks to do the good conservation work that might not always get done. Our program will also assist students and researchers with projects that need motivated volunteers to accomplish on-the-ground work with conservation outcomes.

HCCA’s Stewardship program also seeks to connect HCCA volunteers with experts like biologists, Wilderness rangers, and hydrologists, as opportunities to learn more from the professionals who do this work in the field. Additionally, our volunteer projects will connect participants with other community members and visitors and be an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome.

Finally, HCCAs objective in Stewardship is to conserve our environment and local public lands. The biggest factor for our projects will be their real impact of protecting, restoring, enhancing, or improving the natural ecosystems of our public lands.

The success of our numerous and diverse stewardship projects depends entirely on the willingness and enthusiasm of our members and supporters to come out and get your hands dirty. Stewardship is ongoing in the Gunnison Country, and you can get involved!

The Gunnison County Wet Meadows Restoration Project has built over 2,500 structures, successfully treating 43 miles of stream and 140 acres of riparian habitat. Thank you to all our project partners throughout the years that are continuing this dedication to protecting our valley's most precious natural water ecosystems.

Upcoming Projects

Wet Meadow Restoration

Project Highlight

In the arid hills of the Gunnison Country, wet meadows were damaged by historic human uses and the landscape erosion that followed.

These landscape features absorb water, spur vegetation growth and provide a drinking source for wildlife. Their dilapidation has made survival for wildlife difficult among the hills of sage.

One bird in particular - the Gunnison Sage-grouse - is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. It relies heavily on these wet meadows for survival. Nearly 80% of the bird’s total remaining population of just a few thousand can be found right here.

Completed Projects

Past Projects

Gold Basin Wet Meadow Restoration Volunteer Recap

For our final project of the season, HCCA partnered with UGRWCD and the BLM to restore wet meadow habitat in Gold Basin. Volunteers helped maintain five existing structures and built thirteen new ones, including one Zuni Bowl, over two days. These efforts support Gunnison Sage-Grouse habitat by improving water retention and vegetation growth by minimizing erosion in the area. Thank you to our 26 volunteers who logged 156 volunteer hours over two days!

Almont Triangle Cheatgrass Mapping Recap

HCCA partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to map cheatgrass infestations in the Almont Triangle using CheatMaps, a GPS-based app designed for the invasive species’ detection. The event marked the first treatment effort in the area, with 26 volunteers logging 130 hours and identifying 199 cheatgrass infestations across 42 acres—supporting future herbicide applications.

Annual Gunnison City Cheatgrass Pull Day Recap

High Country Conservation Advocates joined the City of Gunnison’s Annual Cheatgrass Pull Day, helping tackle this invasive species within the city limits. With 15 volunteers contributing over 60 hours, more than 400 pounds of cheatgrass were removed. The event emphasized the growing need for community involvement to protect native ecosystems from the continued spread of cheatgrass in the Gunnison Country.

Centennial WMA Volunteer Project Recap

High Country Conservation Advocates partnered with Colorado Parks & Wildlife and the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District for...

CB News Publishes HCCA Volunteer Restoration Event Recap

Thank you to our partners who came together to make this project possible: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) US Fish &...

Recap: Douglas-fir Protection Project

Each May the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) enters into north-facing steep slopes all over the Upper Gunnison Basin to protect...

Recap: Labor Day Weekend Wet Meadow Restoration Project

It’s been a busy stewardship season at High Country Conservation Advocates and we would like to share the story of our most recent...

Willow Creek Fence Project Recap

High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) hosted their first volunteer stewardship day of the season partnering with the US Forest...

National Public Lands Day

On this year's National Public Lands Day HCCA partnered with the BLM to host a volunteer workday at Chance Gulch near Gunnison. We had 7 community members volunteer to spend their morning restoring and preserving critical mesic meadow habitat. Volunteers built rock baffle and wicker weir structures, which help "wet the sponge" of these meadows, allowing water to stay on the landscape longer in the season, supporting the health and resiliency of our local landscape and communi

One Dam at a Time

By Bella Biondini - Staff Writer for the Gunnison Country Times Gunnison Ranger District hosts beaver dam building day The newly...

Trail Creek Beaver Dam Analogs

We had 15 HCCA volunteers join Forest Service personnel to implement 9 beaver dam analogs (BDA) and plant native willow harvested on-site...

Union Park Stewardship Projects Update

Last fall our intrepid volunteers headed out in the field to harvest and plant willow stakes as part of a restoration project on a...

Taylor Park Travel Management Workday Recap

With 25 total hours of volunteer time, this group built 4 fences (totaling 24 linear feet), installed 3 USFS travel management signs, and...

Taylor Park Fence Building

With 25 total hours of volunteer time, this group built 8 fences (totaling 102 linear feet), installed 6 USFS travel management signs,...

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