NWCCOG Foundation, Inc.

Background Statement

The NWCCOG Foundation Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization created to facilitate multi-jurisdictional projects, allowing local governments to work with non-profits and community members. Projects administered through the NWCCOG Foundation Inc. benefit several communities simultaneously, and allow for all the funds raised to be applied directly to the designated project. The mission of the NWCCOG Foundation Inc. is to provide a financial mechanism for NWCCOG member jurisdictions to work collaboratively with not-for-profit organizations, citizen-based groups, and individuals on projects of regional interest and benefit.

In 2010 The Regional Transportation Coordinating council was formed as a result of Rural Resort Region's focus - Seniors in Our Mountain Communities: challenges and opportunities. This project collected data on the growing senior population in our region and identified the gaps in services. One of the priority gaps was transportation, not just within a particular county, but in the public transportation options available to travel across county boundaries to access healthcare facilities and other services.

In 2011 a Local Coordinating Council (LCC) grant from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) was received to hire a consultant to aid in the development of the RTCC. In 2012 a regional Mobility Manager was hired to staff the RTCC and to work within the CDOT Intermountain and Northwest transportation planning regions (TPR). The Mobility Manager is working on the development of a One Call/One Click Center, developing a regional billing mechanism for Non-Emergent Medicaid Transportation, maintaining a regional transportation services inventory, including both human services agencies and transit providers, along with conducting a detailed gap analysis of the transit needs across the region to expand coordination of and access to existing and new resources.

Past projects undertaken by the NWCCOG Foundation include:

Swan Mountain Recpath

The NWCCOG Foundation, Inc. continues to work with the Summit County Open Space & Trails Department to raise the funds needed to construct the Swan Mountain Recpath. Because of the size and cost of this project, the proposed Swan Mountain Recpath has been divided into four segments - each segment is designed to stand alone until the others are constructed and connected.

The Lowry Section was completed in August 2007 at a total cost of $2,009,525 and provides 1.5 miles of a 10-foot wide, paved Recpath that runs over Swan Mountain, separated from the existing road.

Construction on the second phase, the Sapphire Section, began on August 10, 2009 and was completed in 2010. The Sapphire Section provides 0.71 miles of a 10-foot wide, paved Recpath that runs from the end of the Lowry Section to Sapphire Point and the cost was about $845,000.

Colorado Bark Beetle Cooperative

The NWCCOG Foundation closed out a two year grant from the National Forest Foundation in the amount of $14,750 which was used to help the Colorado Bark Beetle Cooperative (CBBC) to become an independent 501(c)(3) organization. This grant was able to leverage an additional $40,000 to support the CBBC - $10,000 each from the US Forest Service, Colorado State Forest Service, Denver Water, and the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). The CBBC has completed all of the necessary steps to become an independent 501(c)(3) organization. The CBBC has hired Abbie Cobb as their coordinator and will seek their own funding to continue operating in 2010.

Ski Area Conservation Fund

At the request of the National Forest Foundation, NWCCOG Foundation applied for and was awarded $42,880 in Ski Area Conservation Funds to complete on-the-ground beetle kill mitigation work on Forest Service property. The NWCCOG Foundation, with the approval of the US Forest Service - Dillon Ranger District, contracted with the Department of Corrections' Colorado Correctional Industries forestry crews to complete the following:

In May 2009, a crew of 20 individuals worked for six days to clear partially burned debris from the Peak One Campground in Frisco, Colorado, which allowed 79 campsites to re-open before the Memorial Day weekend. The partially burned wood was from burn piles of beetle-kill trees that had not burned completely, leaving rings of charred wood throughout the campground. The crews also reconstructed several parking pads under the supervision of the USFS Dillon Ranger District.

In June 2009, a crew of 20 individuals worked for 18 days to clear approximately 43 acres of beetle-kill lodgepole pine from the Ryan Gulch area in the Wildernest subdivision outside of Silverthorne, Colorado. Crews cut down dead trees, limbed and sectioned the trunks, chipped the slash, and stacked the wood as specified by the USFS personnel.