June 8th, 2023 | Hydro Backyard and Denver Water Laboratory Grand Opening at CSU Spur. Please join the CSU Spur and Denver Water teams as we celebrate the opening of the beautiful outdoor space at CSU Spur’s Hydro building “The Backyard” and Denver Water’s new state-of-the-art Water Quality Laboratory. Explore the fully opened CSU Spur campus, enjoy a drink in The Backyard at Spur from Western Daughters Kitchen, tour the country’s first publicly visible water quality testing lab, and experience newly revealed large-scale art installations from Colorado artists Nikki Pike and Anthony Garcia.
June 5th-7th, 2023 | Becoming a Climate Change Educator in Every Discipline - WCU Teacher Institute. Begin (or continue) your journey of becoming a climate change educator by pairing concrete facts about the mechanisms of climate change with the human elements: personal experiences, storytelling, and collective action.
June 6th-7th, 2023 | Yampa/White/Green River Basin Tour | Water Education Colorado. Join more than 50 other water professionals, agricultural producers, elected officials, educators, students, and interested community members to travel the region in style, riding on our coach bus. Along the way you'll learn about the water development history, unique characteristics, water management challenges, and current exciting projects underway in the region's distinct watersheds. Plus network with your fellow tour participants as you share this exciting and rewarding educational experience together.
June 10, 2023 | River Float & Festival | Roaring Fork Conservancy. Spend the morning with Roaring Fork Conservancy staff and river ambassadors as we float the lower Roaring Fork River. After the float, join us at Coryell Ranch for lunch catered by Slow Groovin, beer from Odell Brewing, music, and the opportunity to try stand up paddle boarding and fly casting! Prefer not to float? That's okay, join for lunch and fun at Coryell Ranch from 11:30am to 3pm.
June 12th, 2023 | Colorado Brownfields Conference. This year’s theme, Brownfields – Redevelopment Gold, explores the many opportunities associated with brownfields. With unprecedented levels of funding for brownfields cleanup and support and an ever-growing need for community revitalization and affordable housing, it’s time to cash in on the Redevelopment Gold! Everyone from community leaders and municipal staff to consultants and development professionals will be able to learn, grow, and network at this year’s conference. The Call for Sessions opens January 10th through February 26th.
July 13th-14th, 2023 | Water Quality Forum Retreat. The 2023 WQF Retreat on July 13-14 will be on the CSU Spur Campus in the Hydro Building, 4777 National Western Drive, Denver 80216. If you are planning to submit a working group rational, please do so here on or before June 15th. In addition, the Water Quality Control Commission will host a special environmental justice community meeting the evening before. Please see the RSVP instructions for this Commission event below. Specific registration information for the WQF retreat itself will be forthcoming. Please do not hesitate to contact Lisa Carlson at lisabcarlson@gmail.com if you have any questions.
June 13th-15th, 2023 | University Council on Water Resources Annual Conference. Join us to discuss critical water issues facing the western United States, the continent, and globe. Please join the dialogue, as we seek to develop new and innovative collaborations and transdisciplinary solutions to complex water problems.
June 19th, 2023 | New Challenges, Stronger Organizations | Colorado Resource Center. The Regional Leadership Committee of the Western Slope invites you to a gathering of nonprofit leaders seeking to strengthen organizations and regional collaboration during a day of exploration, skill-building and opportunities to build you, your staff and the region! CRC’s Regional Leadership Committees work together to support collaborations that result in stronger nonprofits throughout their regions. Local communities decide on projects and events to bring to fruition and seek to ensure the flow of information, resources and opportunities to all nonprofits.
June 19th-22nd, 2023 | NHWC Training Conference & Exposition | National Hydrologic Warning Council. This conference will be held at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge, Colorado. It brings together field personnel, engineers, hydrologists, forecasters, water resource managers, emergency management officials, and others from across the industry for three days of keynote presentations, hands-on workshops, detailed technical sessions, and networking opportunities. The location is fitting, given the 10-year anniversary of the catastrophic flooding that occurred in Colorado's Front Range in September 2023. “Gold Rush at the Great Divide” is the 2023 theme, chosen both as an homage to the long history of gold mining in the region and to draw from the conference's location at the headwater of one of the largest river systems in the United States. Register today.
June 22nd, 2023 | Watershed Summit | Denver Botanic Gardens. The Watershed Summit, or “Shed” as it is affectionately known, has become a Colorado tradition. Each June stakeholders gather to discuss current and future water challenges and opportunities facing the state. With the past year having seen increased stress on Colorado and regional water resources – and with the accompanying heightened news coverage, the 2023 event will focus on leveraging heightened public awareness to effect change. Shed ’23 will be a fully in-person event at Denver Botanic Gardens, concluding with the ever-popular happy hour event sponsored by Stem Ciders and Howdy Beer.
June 23rd-24th, 2023 | Fire Ring Dispersal Hiking & Camping Project. Join BHA Chapter Leader Leslie Kaminski and Alex Miller of San Juan Mountains Association for a fire ring dispersal project. Come prepared to do some work, enjoy hiking and camping in the Uncompahgre National Forest and get to know fellow conservation-minded folks, members, partners, and chapter leaders from Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and San Juan Mountains Association! Volunteers will decommission unapproved fire ring sites by removing rocks, trash, and debris during a full work day Friday and 1⁄2 day Saturday. Saturday afternoon, stay for an optional hike to explore the area and talk more about how you can help comment on the GMUG Forest Plan rewrite.
July 8th, 2023 | Troutfest Colorado | Colorado Trout Unlimited. Troutfest Colorado is July 8th at Coors Field! It’s a one of a kind summer festival and celebration of conservation, education, and fly fishing. Bring the entire family FREE of charge with registration and enjoy exhibitors, youth activities, interactive booths, ballpark tours and concessions, casting presentation and demo opportunities, fly tying, and much more!
July 8th-9th, 2023 | Cimarron State Wildlife Area Fence Pull. Another incredible opportunity in the Cimarron Mountains! Join BHA Chapter Leaders and Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) for a weekend of fence pulling, camping, community, and delicious food at the Cimarron State Wildlife Area on July 8 & 9 with an option to camp Friday night on the 7th. CPW will be opening up their cabin for volunteers to sleep in over the weekend but folks are more than welcome to camp out under the stars. After a day of pulling fences on Saturday you can take some time to relax, explore the area, or do some fishing. In the evening the BHA Colorado Chapter will provide volunteers with a delicious BBQ dinner prepared by Jimmer's BBQ and ice cold beverages. This is a great time to get to know fellow conservation-minded folks, other BHA members in the area, and your local Chapter Leaders. Registration is required.
July 17th-19th, 2023 | Connecting Land & Water for Healthy Communities | American Water Resources Association. Join for the second AWRA Summer Conference: Land and Water. This conference will bring together stakeholders across multiple disciplines, types of organizations, and professions to address the design, integration, and implementation of the programs necessary to better connect land and water planning and policy.
August 3rd-4th, 2023 | West Slope Field Trip | River Network. Explore two indicators of river health—floodplain connectivity and flow regime—and practice your facilitation skills through this 2-day field trip! Learn about the Upper Gunnison Watershed Management Plan with Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, connect with other SMP leads, and build a community of practice to collectively enhance work on SMP/IWMPs throughout the state. More details to follow.
August 12th-16th, 2023 | American Phytopathology Society Plant Health 2023 Conference. Join us at the Sheraton Downtown Denver to explore this year’s meeting theme, "LINKS to a Sustainable Future," with programming that illuminates the interconnectivity of local and indigenous knowledge to the future of global agriculture.