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Glenwood Canyon Restoration Alliance Is Raising Funds For Wildfire Restoration

As of Wednesday, Aug. 26, the Grizzly Creek Fire that sparked more than two weeks ago has burned roughly 32,000 acres and is 61% contained.

 

A recently formed coalition of local government, nonprofits and businesses called the Glenwood Canyon Restoration Alliance has plans to raise funds for wildfire restoration. Their work will include planting trees and rebuilding trails at Hanging Lake and other areas that were destroyed in the fire.

Jacob Baker is the Communications and Outreach Coordinator for Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers (RFOV). The group has been a key organizer in the restoration fund, along with local partners that include the City of Glenwood Springs, the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. 

“The beauty of Glenwood Canyon is aesthetic and ecological and recreational,” Baker said. “So our restoration work will address all three of those facets.” 

RFOV organized similar restoration efforts with more than 300 volunteers after the Lake Christine Fire in Basalt in 2018.

“Our goal is also community healing,” Baker said. “Our living in the landscape is as much a part of Glenwood Canyon as the trees, the Colorado River and the trails.”

The Glenwood Canyon Restoration Alliance will welcome individuals, members of local civic organizations, faith groups, and businesses to participate in restoration projects.

If they can raise the needed funds, the alliance plans to start its work next year.

 

Eleanor is an award-winning journalist and "Morning Edition" anchor. She has reported on a wide range of topics in her community, including the impacts of federal immigration policies on local DACA recipients, creative efforts to solve the valley's affordable housing crisis, and hungry goats fighting climate change across the West through targeted grazing. Connecting with people from all walks of life and creating empathic spaces for them to tell their stories fuels her work.
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