The Colorado Mountain Club

The Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) is organized to:

  • Unite the energy, interest, and knowledge of the students, explorers, and lovers of the mountains of Colorado.
  • Collect and disseminate information regarding the Rocky Mountains, on behalf of science, literature, art, and recreation.
  • Stimulate public interest in our mountain area.
  • Encourage the preservation of forests, flowers, fauna, and natural scenery.
  • Render the alpine attractions of this region readily accessible.

The CMC continues to follow the course set by its founding members by:

  • Sponsoring trips, classes, and seminars dedicated to wildlife and geology study, outdoor photography and art, and other subjects for its 10,000+ members.
  • Collecting and disseminating information on Colorado’s mountains through the Trail and Timberline magazine, the books of the CMC Press, schools, and conservation projects.
  • Stimulating public interest through group programs, the Youth Education Program, and the American Mountaineering Center’s library and museum.
  • Encouraging preservation through environmental education, trail building and restoration, and participation in public land management decisions.
  • Making the alpine attractions of the region available by scheduling over 3,000 trips per year.
  • Visit Site

Outward Bound Wilderness

Founded by Kurt Hahn in Wales during World War II, Outward Bound is the longest-running outdoor education organization in the world. Outward Bound’s mission is to enhance individual character, promote self-discovery, and challenge students to cultivate self-reliance, leadership, fitness, service, and compassion through exceptional wilderness education. For further information about the 5- to 81-day courses run in Colorado, Utah, Baja, and Alaska, visit Outward Bound Wilderness’s website at www.outwardboundwilderness.org.

Leave No Trace, Inc.

Leave No Trace promotes and inspires responsible outdoor recreation through education, research, and partnerships. The program builds awareness, appreciation, and respect for our wildlands and is dedicated to creating a nationally recognized and accepted outdoor ethic that incorporates personal responsibility and land stewardship. Leave No Trace encourages all outdoor enthusiasts to do their part in maintaining public and private lands for themselves, future generations, and the benefit of fragile ecosystems.

The Leave No Trace program is managed by Leave No Trace, Inc., a non-profit 501 ©(3) organization based in Boulder, CO, with the assistance of many partners.

Rocky Mountain Field Institute

The Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI) is a nonprofit environmental service and education organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of wildlands and key natural areas. RMFI was established to assist land managers in preserving and restoring wildlands and key natural areas through environmental service and education.

The Institute provides services and programs in the following areas:

  • Environmental service and education programs for youth and adults
  • Landscape protection and restoration services for public land managers
    Student internships
  • Visit Site

Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado

Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado’s (VOC) mission is to motivate and enable citizens to be active stewards of Colorado’s public lands, thereby creating enthusiastic and beneficial stewardship of Colorado’s natural and cultural resources. VOC accomplishes its mission through operating four interrelated programs: VOC Conservation Projects, Youth Conservators Initiative, Extending Your Reach Training Program, and the VOC Network.

For decades, public land managers have faced budget cutbacks, forcing reductions in environmental improvement projects and services provided. In Colorado, this problem is further compounded by rapid population growth along the Front Range and a significant rise in the percentage of residents participating in outdoor recreation activities. Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado was founded in 1984 to address this need. Since its inception, VOC has motivated and enabled more than 40,000 individuals—youths and adults—to be active stewards of Colorado’s natural resources, successfully completing more than 175 conservation projects worth over $8 million.