Conservation E-news - Holiday Edition

Welcome to the holiday edition of the CMC Conservation E-news, a once monthly interesting mix of news and action items that seeks to connect CMC members and the public with the work we are doing in CMC Conservation. Thank you for your support of our fourfold mission: Protecting Wild Places, Defending Quiet Recreation, Promoting Stewardship and Access. Happy holidays from CMC Conservation! Please remember CMC Conservation programs in your year-end giving. CMC Conservation is Colorado’s leader for sustainable recreation and conservation.  It is this unique perspective, as a large user-group, that informs our conservation ethic.  We are a respected voice connecting hikers and winter backcountry users with stewardship of our public lands.   With your support we have been able to advocate for additional wilderness in Summit , Eagle and Pitkin counties. With your voices, we have been able to help craft a better Colorado Roadless Rule, protecting over 4 million acres.  With your help, we are working actively on trail projects from Dillon to Grand Junction, bringing the hiker and mountain climber voice to the table.  With your help, we’ve been able to give over 3,000 hours of volunteer service in the last field season.    We are supported by gifts from individuals like you and some grants.  CMC membership dues do not directly support our Conservation.  Thank you for your support and for caring about protecting what is best about our state and working to steward it for a sustainable future!  Donate to Conservation at http://www.cmc.org/support. ACTION ITEM: Comment today on the proposed Bang’s Canyon motorized trail near Grand Junction.  This proposed system of motorcycle, ATV and Jeep trails threatens the quiet hiking experiences popular with Western Slope CMC members and the public.  CMC Conservation has been working to protect hikers experiences and these beautiful redrock canyons for a decade now.  Unfortunately, the BLM is once again trying to expand motorized trails into primitive, quiet areas.  Comments are due by this Friday December 21  – check out our ALERT. CMC Conservation invites winter recreation users to get involved with our program serving the human-powered winter backcountry recreation community – the Backcountry Snowsports Initiative, or BSI.  BSI seeks to defend human-powered winter recreation for skiers, snowshoers, snowboarders, and other users, while protecting the wild lands that support these activities. .  Join this community by signing up for our winter season monthly BSI e-news. We are pleased to announce that CMC is a founding member of Outdoor Alliance Colorado, a coalition representing voices for human powered recreation and conservation.  Members include CMC, Colorado Mountain Bike Association ( COMBA), and local affiliates of Access Fund and American Whitewater.  We believe that we can influence public policy and stewardship as the authentic voices for hikers, paddlers, climbers, mountain bikers and winter backcountry users.   Recent studies show that outdoor recreation is a huge positive economic driver in the West. We want to be able to help link that conservation of public lands is an economic engine for Colorado.  Recently, OAC representatives, including CMC Conservation Director Scott Braden, met with Sen. Mark Udall’s staff to endorse the senator’s proposal to create a national monument and wilderness for Browns Canyon of the Arkansas River.  Stay tuned for more news of this exciting new partnership!

Get Your Bash Tickets - Cheaper!

20th Annual CMC Backcountry Bash - Nov 3

Tickets are selling fast, get yours today!

This year's Backcountry Bash is shaping up to be our best ever.  Check out the video invitation above from our emcee, pro-skier Donny Roth.  Right now we are offering a special, limited discount of $10 off the regular ticket price.  Use the discount code SupportBSI at checkout for the discount! (Code is case sensitive).

Come to support the mission of CMC Conservation and our Backcountry Snowsports Initiative.  Come also for the great food, beer and auction items! Get your ticket at www.cmc.org/bash.

 

Donny Roth - Come Join Our Bash!

Donny Roth

I am honored to be the host for the Colorado Mountain Club’s Backcountry Bash happening the evening of November 3^rd.  This is the 20^th Anniversary of the Bash, and will be a celebration equal to the excitement of the soon-to-come winter.  I am inviting you to spend an evening with a group of people passionate about human-powered skiing.  Come for the gear give-aways, the auctions, the films, the food and beer, but most of all come ready to party with four hundred passionate skiers!

The Bash is a fund-raiser for the club’s Backcountry Snowsports Initiative, which is dedicated to protect winter recreation opportunities for those whom pursue human-powered activities.  In short, they help protect the places we play!  This is our opportunity to give back to our favorite playgrounds.  Your bids and donations directly benefit your winter – don’t be shy!

Your role doesn’t end at the Bash however.  This winter, just as we’ve invited you to come party and play with a group of like-minded skiers, I hope you’ll invite someone new to the party and to the playground.  If we really want to protect our favorite places, we need to bring more people into them in a quiet, respectful manner.  I know this can be in opposition of the tendency to protect our powder stashes.  I am not asking anyone to give away his or her favorite tree line.  I am asking you to share your passion.  Share your energy.  Share the sport.  

You don’t have to wait until the powder’s deep.  Start this November 3^rd at the Bash!  Bring your stoke, your cash, and as many friends as possible!  Let’s start the season in grand style.  See you there. Get your tickets at www.cmc.org/bash today!

Cheers!

Donny

Donny Roth is passionate about sharing the human-powered ski experience, which is he does feverishly throughout the year.  He invites you to check out his website, www.independent-descents.com, and hopes you’ll cross tracks soon.  

2012 Backcountry Bash - Get Your Tickets Now!

There are a lot of reasons why you should attend the 20th Annual CMC Backcountry Bash on November 3 in Golden.  Great food, drinks and prizes all with admission.  Fabulous auction items.  The camaraderie of an evening of fun with fellow backcountry wintersports enthusiasts.  Distraction from the election in three days. 

For me, the most compelling reason to attend the Backcountry Bash is to build community around our wintertime sports and support CMC's wintertime recreation advocacy program - the Backcountry Snowsports Initiative, or simply BSI.  Formed four years ago by merging with the Backcountry Snowsports Alliance, the BSI is a leading Colorado voice for human-powered recreational opportunities in the winter backcountry.  Whether you are a snowshoer, cross-county skier, telemarker or winter hiker, BSI seeks to educate and protect our recreation opportunities.  BSI is involved in dialog with forest land managers, winter motorsports clubs and other stakeholders to create opportunities for collaborative solutions, and to defend traditionally quiet use areas.

This year's Bash promises to be the best yet.  We are pleased to announce that Boulder pro-skier Donny Roth, featured in films like last year's Bash feature Solitaire, will be hosting.  We are excited to feature films from Winter Wildlands Alliance 2012 Backcountry Film Festival, food by Chipotle Mexican Grill, drinks by Avery Brewing and others, the traditional silent auction, a live auction of hut stays and much more!

The Backcountry Bash is on November 3 at 5:30 PM at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden, CO.  Purchase tickets at the CMC website.