June 1 - July 14, 2024 | The Colorado Explorer Campaign. In an effort to offer free and fun outdoor experiences, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is partnering with the Town of Erie, Castle Rock Parks and Trails Foundation, City of Brighton Parks and Rec, Chimney Rock National Monument, Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service to encourage outdoor exploration and learning using a familiar tool almost everyone has in their back pocket, their smartphone. The Colorado Explorer Campaign uses Agents of Discovery®, an educational technology platform that enables educators to create their own augmented reality games - think Pokemon Go for parks and education. Anyone can join by downloading the free Agents of Discovery mobile app and completing “Missions” or themed activities at participating locations. For more information, visit the Agents of Discovery Colorado Explorer website.
June 4 – 6, 2024 | Coalitions & Collaboratives is hosting a Community Wildfire Mitigation Best Practices (CWMBP) two-day course in Cripple Creek, Colorado, during the Colorado Wildland Fire and Incident Management Academy. If you attend both days you will receive a certificate of completion for the 2-day short course. If interested in getting the Incident Qualification and Certification System (IQCS) N9073 Training Certificate, you must complete pre-work, attend and actively participate in both days of training, and complete a Mitigation Action Plan (MAP) within two weeks of course completion. Learn more and register for the course HERE.
June 6-7, 2024 | Getches Wilkinson Center and and Water & Tribes Initiative presents Next Chapters on the Colorado River: Short-Term Coping, Post-2026 Operations, and Beyond at the Wolf Law Building in Boulder, CO. For many years, full reservoirs on the Colorado River made for relative peace and stability among the basin’s major water users, despite lingering concerns over environmental degradation, unfulfilled promises to Tribal Nations, and the eventual consequences of water over-allocation and overuse. That era has abruptly ended, challenging the authors of modern Colorado River policy to quickly draft new chapters stabilizing the system through 2026, directing post-2026 reservoir operations, and articulating the long-term vision and strategies for achieving a healthy, sustainable, and equitable river system. It is a formidable, multi-faceted agenda being addressed in many ways. 10 general CLE credits are approved for Colorado attorneys. Registration fees apply. Learn more and register.
June 10, 2024 (deadline to apply) | Root and Bloom Fellowship open for applications.The Root and Bloom Fellowship, a paid advocacy and power-building educational opportunity for 35-40 farmers across the country! Join us in this transformative fellowship journey as we unearth the seeds of advocacy and power-building in agriculture. Fellows will dive deep into the roots of federal agriculture policy and uncover how it shapes the landscape for young and BIPOC farmers nationwide. Fellows will then apply that understanding to how policy shows up as real-world impacts in their own communities through pursuing leadership on a board or advisory council. This fellowship will take place over 9 months, from September 2024 - June 2025, and fellows will receive a stipend for their time. Reach out to megan@youngfarmers.org with any questions. Applications are due by June 10, 2024. Learn More and Apply.
June 12, 2024 | Native Grass Working Group is hosting a Herbicides Safe for Native Grasses discussion with Dr. Tony Koski has been the Extension Turf Specialist and a professor at Colorado State University since 1988. He teaches turfgrass management and advises turf management students in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. As an Extension specialist, he works with all facets of Colorado’s professional turf management industry, including the golf course industry, sports turf, professional lawn care, and sod production. His research interests include landscape water management, weed control, turf fertility and soil management. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from The Ohio State University. In addition to his university work, Dr. Koski has served as a volunteer Colorado Master Gardener in Larimer County since 2011 primarily managing the Farmers’ Market outreach. This discussion will take place between 9:00 am -10:00 am - Join the meeting through MS Teams.
June 13-15, 2024 | Educators seeking graduate credit - Teaching Exploring Rivers and Water at Western Colorado University Teacher Institute. Every June, educators from across Colorado and the broader Rocky Mountain Region come together at Western Colorado University for the Teacher Institute. Learn how to integrate rivers and riparian habitat and the complexities of water management in the West into your curriculum through cross-curricular field and classroom learning observing phenomenon, authentic explorations, discussions, and reflection routines. Explore how teaching the process of science can look in the context of local rivers and streams where you teach.
June 21, 2024 | AgNext and the Society of Range Management are sponsoring Research on the Range. Join CSSRM & AgNext for a day of learning & discovery on methane measuring, virtual fence, management principles, plant ID and monitoring. This is a full day workshop from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm in Nunn, Colorado. Researchers whose work focuses on the Semi-Arid Grasslands Research Center, part of the Central Plains Experimental Range, a 15,500 acre short grass prairie with an average of 12 inches of annual precipitation, will introduce you to their work on virtual fencing and methane monitoring with Anna Shadbolt and Kim Stackhouse-Lawson, grazing principles for today's land managers led by Justin Derner and Anna Shadbolt, and there will be line-point-intercept training for plant biodiversity and associated plant identification led by a cadre of range professionals.
June 24 – 25, 2024 | National Stormwater Center - Colorado CSI MS4 Webinar. Designed for Municipal personnel (MS4), this course will focus on permit regulations and compliance to restore and maintain the waters of the United States. Permits require certifying officials to select qualified stormwater personnel. Gain an in-depth understanding of stormwater permits, the six minimum control measures, how to conduct inspections, and the authority, demeanor, and discretion of stormwater inspectors to enhance your credentials of qualified.
July 2, 2024 | National Stormwater Center - WATER QUALITY STANDARDS, 303 (d) LISTS, TMDL's. Do you have impaired water bodies in your municipal jurisdiction? Having difficulty identifying and reducing the sources of pollution? Get the certification you need to help you meet interim and term goals on your NPDES MS4 Stormwater Permit or Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for impaired water bodies listed (303 (d)) under (40 C.F.R. §130.7(b) (5)).
July 6th, 2024 |Rotational Grazing Intensive. This intensive will provide an overview of nutrient cycling, grassland ecology and how it is shaped by ruminants, and a deep dive into the prairie ecology of our bioregion. In the afternoon, we will go over the fundamentals of how to design and set up rotational grazing systems, including figuring out stocking rates, choosing species of livestock, acquiring, and setting up the most appropriate types of fencing, plotting out seasonal and daily grazing patterns, and defining regenerative access pathways to water and critical infrastructure.
July 8-12, 2024 | AgriCULTURE Institute - Fort Morgan: Agriculture on the Eastern Plains. TWO multi-day courses designed for teachers. This is not your typical PD session - think summer camp for adults. Attendees learn about Colorado agriculture; tour farms, ranches, and production facilities; and gain innovative, standards-based ways to incorporate food, fiber, fuel, and natural resource topics into academic curricula.
July 11, 2024 | State Revolving Fund Regional Workshop. Alamosa workshop to be held at Adams State University, SUB (Student Union Building) 309, from 9:00 a.m.- 4:15 p.m. They will cover topics including: SRF basics (including details about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding in the SRF program), Funding options for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, Planning, asset management, available technical assistance, Current and upcoming regulations regarding lead and emerging contaminants. Please RSVP to the Alamosa workshop by Friday, June 28. Lunch will be provided.
July 15–16, 2024 | Online with one additional regional cohort day: Rocky Mountain Region will be Thursday, July 18 - Rocky Mountain Regional Cohort Summer Institute for Climate Change Education. Wild Rose Education is proud to be leading a cohort of Rocky Mountain Regional educators from Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho during the Summer Institute for Climate Change Education, hosted by Climate Generation. This three-day experience will have powerful and engaging keynote speakers, meaningful discussion about the intersection of social justice and climate change, and collaborative conversations between a national network of climate change education leaders. Educators (formal and non-formal) will leave feeling reinvigorated for the new school year and prepared to educate your students to be global citizens. Scholarships are available.
July 16-18, 2024 |AgriCULTURE Institute - SLV: Agriculture in the San Luis Valley. TWO multi-day courses designed for teachers. This is not your typical PD session - think summer camp for adults. Attendees learn about Colorado agriculture; tour farms, ranches, and production facilities; and gain innovative, standards-based ways to incorporate food, fiber, fuel, and natural resource topics into academic curricula.
July 17th, 2024 (8-week course) | Water Sustainability in the Western U.S. CSU course, hosted by CSU Global. This CSU Fort Collins course is open to students, working professionals, and anyone interested in learning about this pivotal resource that has defined this region's past and is poised to determine and impact its future. No prerequisites needed. 8-week course, 100% online.
July 23, 2024 | State Revolving Fund Regional Workshop. Akron workshop to be held at the Akron Senior & Community Center, from 9:00 a.m.- 4:15 p.m. They will cover topics including: SRF basics (including details about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding in the SRF program), Funding options for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, Planning, asset management, available technical assistance, Current and upcoming regulations regarding lead and emerging contaminants. Please RSVP to the Akron workshop by Friday July 12. Lunch will be provided.
September 23 & 24, 2024 | National Stormwater Center - Colorado CSI MS4 Webinar. Designed for Municipal personnel (MS4), this course will focus on permit regulations and compliance to restore and maintain the waters of the United States. Permits require certifying officials to select qualified stormwater personnel. Gain an in-depth understanding of stormwater permits, the six minimum control measures, how to conduct inspections, and the authority, demeanor, and discretion of stormwater inspectors to enhance your credentials of qualified.
Webinar Recording: Overview of Prescribed Fire Liability in State Law. Lawyer Sara Clark provides an overview of prescribed fire liability in state law, including definitions of liability and how state laws defining liability interact with certified burn manager programs, tribal sovereignty and cultural burning, and prescribed fire insurance. This webinar is intended for those who are new to the issue of prescribed fire liability or those more experienced who would like an overview of the subject, especially anyone about to engage on similar policy initiatives in their state or jurisdiction.
Online Course: Leave No Trace 101 Course. This is an introduction to Leave No Trace and the actions we can collectively take to protect our planet. In this course we share helpful information with a simple framework of minimum impact practices to apply when spending time outdoors.
Watershed Academy’s new Hazard Mitigation Planning and Water Resource Management Module Ready - The EPA Watershed Academy has released their new Hazard Mitigation Planning and Water Resource Management Module. This module is intended for water quality and hazard mitigation professionals that are interested in integrating water quality issues and/or nature-based solutions into state or local Hazard Mitigation Plans (HMPs) and highlights the benefits of working across water quality and hazard mitigation programs. Modules in this series can be used as training tools to help planners from both worlds explore activities of mutual interest and benefit. Case studies and examples are provided to assist hazard mitigation planners with integrating water resource programs into HMPs and help watershed planners understand the synergies between water resource plans and HMPs. Visit this link to begin the course!
Colorado Water and the American West teaches students about the rich history of water in the Western United States, how native communities used it, and the American approach to water management. The western United States is a region with a long history of water challenges. In the American West, over 40 million people depend on the Colorado River, now listed as one of the most endangered rivers in America. MSU Denver developed the noncredit Professional Water Studies courses for people interested in safeguarding this precious resource. Taught by MSU Denver faculty, courses are one month long, fully online, and self-paced to accommodate the schedules of busy professional students.
The Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership presents 14 videos to help community members learn about how water is managed, restored and monitored in the upper Uncompahgre River watershed. Take advantage of this education resource to learn about your watershed including mine reclamation, water monitoring, recreational use, water conservation, drinking water and wastewater treatment and distribution, aquatic life, water scarcity, agricultural use, management, infrastructure, and more. Watch the video series here.
The American Stormwater Institute, LLC now offers live and online courses that deal with developing the knowledge and skills required to conduct stormwater inspections. Our courses are based on a “Real World” attitude of finding implementable solutions to the challenges that stormwater inspectors face every day. The state and federal regulations require that “QUALIFIED PERSONS” conduct inspections related to stormwater permits. The overarching goal of the ASI classes is to ensure that our students are well qualified to conduct these inspections. For a list of all classes offered click HERE.
Non-standard MS4 Permit PDD Template and Program Strategy Templates. SPLASH members and SEMSWA worked with CP Compliance to create resources to educate permittees. It may also assist permittees with the implementation of the new Non-standard MS4 Permit. Please click HERE to access the material.
MSU Denver developed the noncredit Water Studies courses for people interested in safeguarding this precious resource. Students will learn history, law, management, and water trends in Colorado and the American West. The courses have recently been improved, offering the same high quality, but shortened to meet your busy schedules. The course structure has been redesigned for each class to be one month long to improve the learning experience and accommodate the schedules of busy professional students. Click HERE for more information.