November 13, 2020 | Sometimes when Southwest Conservation Crew 428 arrives at a sawyer job, crew members receive second looks from clients for carrying saws or wearing manual labor gear. At times, the client ends up looking for the man in charge.

“There’s definitely stereotypes and gender norms within this field,” said Cassie McCarty, a crew leader. “Even if they’re slight, they’re still there.”

Crew 428 is a team of all women and gender nonbinary individuals – the first of its kind for the SCC.

September 6, 2020 | Tech Gives Back, a fundraising effort, raised $300,000 for the Community Emergency Relief Fund’s efforts to combat food insecurity and support youth employment at local nonprofits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

August 31, 2020 | In late July, amidst alternating summer heat and afternoon monsoons, volunteers gathered to plant locally and regionally native plant species in southwestern Colorado. Housed at the Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership (GGP) site in downtown Pagosa Springs, members from various groups (Weminuche Audubon Society, Mountain High Garden Club, CSU Extension Master Gardeners, and GGP) came together to install a Habitat Hero demonstration garden despite the current pandemic.

August 6, 2020| A unique partnership is addressing a home heating crisis on the Navajo and Hopi Nations, by supplying hundreds of cords of firewood from forest restoration projects.

June 29, 2020 | This will be updated regularly by Conservation Legacy staff with changes or further announcements. Last updated 6/29/20.

The safety of our participants, staff, and partners is our utmost priority. We have activated an Incident Response Team dedicated to addressing the impact of COVID-19 on our organization.

Below you will find updates regarding Conservation Legacy’s response to the emerging concerns related to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

April 30, 2020 | A record snowpack in Colorado from the 2018-2019 winter resulted in epic skiing, amazing rafting conditions, and a nightmare for many trail maintenance organizations. With over 700 percent of the average yearly snowpack still sticking around into June and beyond, the trail maintenance season would be drastically shortened. To add to the shorter season, that level of snowpack caused numerous avalanches. Avalanches leave a path of destruction behind them, and massive debris fields in front of them.

April 13, 2020 | Throughout 2019 and continuing into 2020, the Conservation Legacy Communications Team has been analyzing our brand, visual identity, messaging and communication strategies. It has taken the effort of our entire staff to pull together a comprehensive body of research, culminating with our 2020-2022 Strategic Plan. With that, we have refreshed our Conservation Legacy logo and program visual identities.

February 6, 2020 | FARMINGTON – After more than 20 years in the area, the Southwest Conservation Corps is gearing up to hire one of its largest summer youth crews yet.

The program plans to hire about 65 students, almost four times more than 2016 when it hired 16 students, said Teresa DiTore, youth programs manager with Southwest Conservation Corps.