- Update: After a few fundraisers and 7% on the 7th, we were able to donate $3,548.20 to Conservation Colorado. Thanks for helping us support them!
We’re donating 7% of our sales on Wednesday March 7th 2018 to Conservation Colorado. We’ve supported Conservation Colorado for the past several years, and were one of the founding members of COBA, the Colorado Outdoor Business Alliance. As outdoor enthusiasts, we think it’s vital to protect our state’s environment and landscape for future generations — Conservation Colorado works to do just that. Earlier this week I interviewed their communications director, Jace Woodrum, in order to show our readers what their organization does.
Can you tell us about Conservation Colorado’s work?
Conservation Colorado is the leading environmental organization in the state. We strive to protect Colorado’s environment and quality of life by mobilizing people and electing conservation-minded policymakers. We serve as the leading pro-conservation voice at the state capital, holding our elected officials accountable and working to advance policies that protect our air, land, water, and communities. Through our Latino outreach initiative, Protégete, we educate and organize to elevate the voices of Latino communities and leaders in the environmental movement.
For more than 50 years, our team has worked to build the state’s largest grassroots environmental force. Our staff are located in offices around the state, including Grand Junction, Craig, Durango, and Denver. While powerful interests are constantly pushing to put pollution and profits over public health, we believe that people power is the best way to fight the threats to our environment. We engage and empower our more than 36,000 members to raise their voices for public lands, clean air, healthy rivers, and our communities.
How is your work pertinent to skiers?
Climate change is the most pressing issue of our generation, and it’s our future if we don’t act now. The ski and snowsports industries will be among the first to feel the impacts of a warming planet — recent Environmental Protection Agency research estimates Colorado ski areas will see their already fleeting ski seasons shorten by 10 to 50 percent by 2050. Mountain snowpack has already decreased by 20 to 60 percent at most monitoring sites in Colorado since the 1950s, according to an EPA analysis. Colorado’s average temperature has already increased by more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 40 years.
These changes in weather patterns may spell disaster for Colorado’s ski industry, which currently brings in $4.8 billion in economic activity each year and sustains 46,000 jobs in the state. And the decline of the ski industry will be one of the lesser concerns in a world facing increased droughts, severe storms, sea level rise, larger wildfires, and more.
Conservation Colorado is leading the charge to act on climate in our state. We work to make sure our elected officials tackle the root causes of climate change as a policy priority. We’ve helped set a statewide renewable energy standard and increase it to one of the strongest in the nation, and we are currently fighting to expand renewable energy on our grid. While cutting carbon pollution in Colorado will not solve global climate change, we can play our part on the national and international stage by finding bipartisan climate solutions and taking the lead to reduce emissions from the most polluting sectors of our economy. In this way, Colorado can show other states that acting on climate can be good for our air and our economy.
What about people who don’t live in Colorado? Do you have sister organizations in other states?
If you visit Colorado to ski or enjoy our wild rivers and public lands, Conservation Colorado is standing up for your values, and you should join the cause. We’re a state affiliate of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). LCV’s Conservation Voter Movement is a unique network of 29 state organizations and one federal organization that closely collaborate and share expertise and resources in order to effect positive change at all levels of government.
What’s the most valuable thing an individual can do to make a difference? What’s the most valuable thing a business can do?
The old adage “Think globally, act locally” holds a lot of truth today. Your voice matters, whether you’re an individual or representing a business, and leveraging your unique voice is the best way to have an impact. The most effective way to make sure your voice is heard on the issues you care about the most is by paying close attention and weighing in on the local, state, and national levels.
If that sounds like a lot of work, it is — but that’s exactly what Conservation Colorado is here to do. We’re your eyes and ears on the environmental and social justice issues that affect Colorado. We keep track of what’s going on and ask you to get involved at the most critical moments.
Whether it’s thanking a lawmaker for running a bill, attending a city council meeting, or joining us at an event, your voice becomes more powerful when you stand with Conservation Colorado and our 36,000-strong member base. You can become a member of Conservation Colorado by visiting ConservationCO.org/TakeAction.
