CFI Peak Stewards

[CFI PeakSteward]

Greetings 14ers.com users!

The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative needs your help! Everyone that uses these forums are aware of the ever increasing number of visitors to Colorado's Fourteeners. Many of them are fully capable of having a safe trip and not damaging the fragile alpine tundra, and many of them are oblivious to either their own capabilities or the ecological integrity of their surrounding area. The Peak Steward Program attempts to contact these visitors and educate them on alpine ecology and Leave No Trace techniques specified for the alpine environment.

We are trying to dramatically boost our number of Peak Steward Volunteers next season and will begin trainings in January. The first training is already scheduled for Saturday January 30th from 10am-5pm and will take place at the Lakewood REI, a bit west of the Denver metro area.

Email to brian@14ers.org with further questions or visit our website http://www.14ers.org for more details and to register. This is an opportunity for you to climb the peaks you would be in the first place and volunteer at the same time...what a true "Stewardship" mentality should entail.

Thank you very much,
Brian Wallace
Education and Outreach Coordinator

[CFI PeakSteward]

and check out our accomplishments from 2009 at: http://www.14ers.org/documents/CFIAccom ... _FINAL.pdf

[weschun]

I think that supporting CFI is critically important to the preservation and protection of the fourteeners. In my opinion CFI has made some tremendous steps forward this year. Be sure to check out the “accomplishments” page referenced above. There is a new Executive Director, Lloyd Athearn, and Brian Wallace’s position is now year round, instead of seasonal, at least for this year. I’m sure that most of you know that Bill Middlebrook is on the Board of CFI.

I’ve worked as a Peak Steward the past two summers, and will say it’s the most fun volunteer job that I have ever done. I know that there are several other Peak Stewards that frequent this site, and I’m sure they would agree. The job basically involves climbing fourteeners (you are going to do that anyway, and you pick which ones to climb), and talking to people. It is not a huge commitment, you are asked to contribute a minimum of four days per year. My CPA says that I can write off all my expenses as well. There is a two day training program.

So let’s see: You get to climb fourteeners, help by educating people about minimizing their impact on the fourteeners, meet a lot of great people, and get a tax write-off for going climbing. What’s not to like?

For more information on the Peak Steward Program, see: http://14ers.org/volunteer_programs_steward.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, or contact me if you want to hear about my experiences. (PM or my cell is 303-489-9807)

Wes