Volunteer opportunities

Everything that Boulder County Nature Association does is accomplished by volunteers. There are many, many ways you can help us conserve and promote resilient natural ecosystems in our region.

If you are interested in working with us in any area, please contact us and let us know your interests.

____________________________________________

BCNA Administration

• The Board of BCNA is all volunteer. There is a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer, plus at-large members.
• BCNA also has a volunteer webmaster who oversees and updates the website and handles other technical matters for the Board.

Outreach

• • Communications: This committee publishes and updates the BCNA website and the Colorado Front Range Butterflies website. The committee also sends out News from BCNA emails with upcoming events, news items, and information of interest to the membership.
  • Education: The education committee organizes classes and occasional hikes or seminars.
  • Ecosymposium: Pre-covid, BCNA and CU hosted a day-long annual ecosymposium with 5-6 speakers or sessions on a timely topic. This was generally attended by 100-120 members of the community. We hope to offer this again soon.
  • Publications: The publications committee has published and distributed several books and CDs.

Advocacy

• BCNA advocates at a local and regional level to conserve and promote resilient natural ecosystems in our region. The goal of this committee is to secure a “seat at the table” where important local conservation issues are being addressed and solutions developed. We provide strong advocacy for the sound management of open lands and wildlife in our region. The mission is to mobilize BCNA’s broad regional conservation knowledge and passion in order to engage collaboratively in the local decision-making process to conserve and promote resilient natural ecosystems in our region.

Research and Monitoring

• Raptors: BCNA trains and oversees raptor monitors that monitor raptor populations along pre-determined driving routes during the winter. Data from this project and the burrowing owls project are shared with Boulder County.
• Burrowing owls: After training by BCNA, monitors check burrowing owl sites on a regular schedule.
• Indian Peaks Breeding Bird Count: This count has been done by volunteers since 1982 in western Boulder and northwestern Gilpin counties to provide information about species presence and relative abundance as well as documenting trends and composition changes in the mountain landscape.
• Bird Banding: A small group of volunteers regularly band birds at the Allegra Collister Nature Preserve.
• Ecosteward Program: Volunteers monitor and report on an area of Boulder County. The project has three goals: monitor natural processes in Boulder County native ecosystems, use data collected to improve management and influence policy-making, and recruit a cadre of naturalists to monitor and protect natural areas in perpetuity.
• Grants for research: BCNA offers one-year grants for projects consisted with our mission. The Grants Committee solicits applications, evaluates the applications, and awards grants every year.

Please take some time to look through the website to learn about BCNA and our activities. If you are not yet on the Nature-Net email list, you will find this a good source of local, timely information and interesting tidbits for those interested in the natural world and the humans that impact it.