Annie Carter for CCA 2025

For a few particularly busy weeks in April and September, I have gotten to share the outdoors with thousands of students over the last four years. In the spring, Nature Knowledge Days introduces Mesa County 3rd graders to the incredible values of McInnis Canyons NCA; immersive stations about geology, wildlife biology, land management, and human history afford these young minds an opportunity to make connections between their classroom learning and the physical world around them. 

Just a few weeks into the new school year in September, the CCA team gears up for a two-day, bilingual deep dive into the natural and cultural history of Dominguez-Escalante NCA with 5th graders from Dual Immersion Academy. This year, the intrepid explorers and I witnessed something new to us all: horseshoe crab-like tadpole shrimp scuttling through an ephemeral desert pool created by the recent rainstorms. 

As the weather just begins to cool later in the month, I gather with colleagues from the Bureau of Land Management, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and other partner organizations to welcome Delta County and Olathe 6th graders to Gunnison Gorge NCA through hands-on immersion in what makes the Gunnison River a recreational and ecological marvel. For many, it's their first time ever seeing (or touching) the armored shell of a stonefly nymph whose mere presence is a testament to the care shown for this area by land managers and upstream communities alike.

These moments of awe and connection to our beloved NCAs, and the natural world at large, are what our work at Colorado Canyons Association is all about. In 2025, across these two and a half weeks alone, CCA brought over 900 public school students to their local public land - all at entirely no cost thanks to federal funding and support. Now more than ever, that funding is at risk, imperiling these transformative experiences for our next generation of public land stewards. While these are by no means the only field trips we run in a year, these programs are some of the most impactful to our local community, in major part due to their affordability. Donations are crucial to supporting our mission and vision of providing meaningful programs, which help students and adults alike to access our local National Conservation Areas. On this Colorado Gives Day, I'm asking you to help me raise $750 to support this important work. Please reach out to me if you'd like to hear more about what we do, or how you could be involved!

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Colorado Canyons Association Work and Impact 

Some of the most breathtaking and storied landscapes in North America—McInnis Canyons, Dominguez-Escalante, and Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Areas—are also our communities’ wild backyards. These places define our quality of life and deepen our shared sense of place.

At Colorado Canyons Association (CCA), we work to ensure these public lands remain vibrant and protected for generations to come. Each year, we connect thousands of kids and adults to their NCAs through hands-on education, volunteer stewardship, and community experiences that inspire care and connection. 

Whether on foot, hoof, bike, boat, or ATV, CCA helps people build lasting relationships with the landscape and with one another.

Our work continues, strengthening community stewardship and ensuring Colorado’s NCAs thrive. 

So far in 2025...

• 2832 learners received place-based education on the lands and rivers of our National Conservation Area - 306 joined us on day-long or overnight river trips...

• 210+ CCA volunteers dedicated over 1,800 hours to stewarding their public lands…

• And over 500 adults connected to their public lands through CCA's community events! 

Thank you for caring about the landscapes that make our home such an amazing place!   With your donation we can help more kids experience our rivers, plant more native vegetation, connect more of our neighbors to the land, positively impact our wildlife and water and give back to the resources that give so much to us.