Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities: Help Restore the High Park Fire Burn Area

The High Park Restoration Coalition

In response to the devastating High Park Fire, a group of Northern Colorado nonprofits, agencies, individuals, and local businesses joined forces in July 2012 to form the High Park Restoration Coalition. We are combining resources to restore and stabilize high priority ecological areas affected by the High Park and Hewlett Gulch fires.

The goals of the High Park Restoration Coalition focus on the ecological restoration of public and private lands burned by these events. We will do this through public education and outreach as well as projects that stabilize soil to protect watersheds, reseed and reforest sensitive areas, restoring aquatic ecosystems, and rehabilitating trails and other recreation areas. By working in cooperation with local agencies, we can increase the positive impact that we can collectively have on the burned area and its recovery.

Please join us by becoming a volunteer with the Coalition and help restore our precious lands!

Upcoming Volunteer Events:

High Park Post-Fire Restoration IV – Friday May 10, 2013
High Park Post-Fire Restoration V – Saturday May 11, 2013
High Park Post-Fire Staging and Restoration VI – Wednesday May 15, 2013
High Park Post-Fire Restoration VII – Saturday May 18, 2013
High Park Post-Fire Restoration VIII – Saturday June 1, 2013
High Park Post-Staging VIII – Thursday June 20, 2013
High Park Post-Fire Restoration IX – Saturday June 22, 2013

Volunteer Opportunity: Help Build the Red Cloud Training Annex

Our dedicated volunteer base makes all of our projects a success!

Take this opportunity to travel to our Tribal Renewable Energy Program’s headquarters on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota for a long weekend of fun, hard work, and new experiences! Although it is only a five hour drive from the Trees, Water & People office in Fort Collins, Colorado, a trip to Pine Ridge offers a life-changing experience in an entirely different culture.

What: Volunteer Weekend
Where: Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, Pine Ridge Reservation, SD
When: Thursday, April 4 – Monday, April 8
Who: Flexible volunteers who like adventure, hard work, lots of fun, and all kinds of weather. Volunteers 14-18 are welcome with adult companions.
Why: Learn about the Oglala Lakota culture, meet new people, and help finish construction of the Red Cloud Training Annex.

Volunteers are invited to arrive anytime after 6p.m. on Thursday, April 4. We will host full work days Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Projects will end by 5p.m. on Sunday, and volunteers are welcome to head home Sunday evening or on Monday morning. The primary focus of this trip will be to progress with the construction of the new Training Annex. We will be painting walls, installing windows and other fixtures, and doing whatever else the building needs at that point. Additional needs may arise between now and our trip (work in the garden? chop firewood?) – flexibility is a must. Projects may be outdoors and certainly will not take place in a climate-controlled environment.

Food:

• TWP will provide food for volunteers during their time in Pine Ridge.
• Food purchased by TWP will be vegan (no animal products). Feel free to bring your own food if you desire.
• TWP cooking equipment and utensils will be available for use.
• Volunteers will be responsible for preparing all their own food, including group dinners.

Transportation:

• All volunteers are responsible for their own transportation and related costs getting to Pine Ridge.
• I will be happy to coordinate carpools where possible.
• Our facility is located down a short dirt road. Many sedans have traveled it.

Lodging:

• Volunteers are encouraged to camp on the Red Cloud Renewable Energy campus and must bring their own camping equipment to do so. Weather will be unpredictable, so only those comfortable in the outdoors should camp.
• Also available will be bunks for up to 14 volunteers, who will share a room with up to 6 other individuals (co-ed).

To volunteer, please email the following information to Lacey Gaechter, National Director, at lacey@treeswaterpeople.org.

1. Name of all people in your volunteer party
2. Email addresses for all people in your volunteer party
3. Your cell phone number
4. Which days you have available to travel to and work in Pine Ridge
5. Where you will be coming from and returning to (e.g. most people will be coming from Fort Collins, CO)
6. Whether you will be camping or require a bunk in our loft (first come, first served!)
7. Do you need a ride?
8. Can you offer a ride – if so, for how many people?
9. Any other questions you have

Once Lacey has confirmed your spot, she will email you directions to the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center and provide you additional details about the trip.

Can’t join us in April? Join us the weekend of May 2-5 for a tree planting volunteer trip. Save the date and keep your eye out for more details!

Photo of the Week: Volunteers Make it Happen!

Nick Martinez works hard to finish the roof on one of the strawbale homes at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center during a recent volunteer trip to Pine Ridge.

Interested in volunteering with Trees, Water & People? Visit our website for information on how you can help!

 

Upcoming Event: Impacts of the High Park Fire

Click to enlarge the poster

To learn more about this event click here!

Intern Spotlight: Jordan Engel

Photo by Lindsay Herrera

This month’s featured volunteer, Jordan Engel, is embracing a truly unique opportunity through Trees, Water & Peoples Internship Program.  Originally from upstate New York, Jordan moved to Kentucky in 2010 to attend Berea College.  With his studies focused on Sustainable Community Development, Jordan’s decision to pursue an internship with TWP for the summer was a no-brainer.   “I first heard about Trees, Water & People when I saw Henry Red Cloud’s profile in Yes Magazine,” Jordan explained.  A few months later Jordan finds himself (a self proclaimed “Yankee”) smack dab in the middle of Indian Country, working side by side and towards the same goals as our partner, Henry Red Cloud.

Jordan arrived in Pine Ridge South Dakota excited to learn about sustainable building techniques and solar energy.  After living on the Rez, Jordan has learned about a lot more than just that.  “The numbers only tell part of the story,” Jordan exclaimed when referring to the staggering poverty statistics that exist about life on Pine Ridge.  “I’m learning about happiness, and how to be happy…how to live my life and make the most of it.”  The Lakota culture is beautiful and can be quite invigorating; Jordan’s learning this firsthand.

The Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center (RCREC) campus on the Pine Ridge Reservation is the heart of TWP’s Tribal Renewable Energy and Food Security Programs, and the place that Jordan calls home at the moment.  As TWP’s on-site assistant, Jordan handles a myriad of tasks including maintaining and improving campus buildings, assisting Henry in accommodating trainees, and assisting Henry with sustainable living and renewable energy projects.  When asked what his favorite task is, he said it’s definitely taking care of the Solar Warrior Farm and foraging for traditional foods.  “I love working the earth!” Jordan exclaims,  “We’re growing food for the people and it’s making waves.  This is a little thing that’s making a big difference.”  In the end, this is what TWP is all about: Finding culturally appropriate ways to improve lives and help people manage their natural resources.

If you would like to hear more about Jordan’s experiences, check out his regular “Notes from the Field” posts right here on the TWP blog.

Volunteer Opportunity: Help Build the Red Cloud Training Annex

To Our Hammer-Savvy Volunteers!

This July, spend a few days helping TWP build the interior walls of our new Training Annex at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Thanks to volunteers like you, the 40′ x 60′ steel building is fully constructed and ready for rooms to be built!

What: Training Annex Walls Construction
Where: Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, Pine Ridge Reservation, SD
When: Whenever you are available, July 1 – July 15
Who: Volunteers with some construction experience/ comfort with a hammer
Why: Take this opportunity to visit the Pine Ridge Reservation and play a critical role in expanding our training program.

Trees, Water & People is looking for 1-3 volunteers to travel to Pine Ridge at a time in order to assist our project lead, Jeremy Foster (TWP board member extroardinaire), in framing the Annex’s interior walls. You heard me right, only 1-3 volunteers at any one time, but you have two weeks to go.

We will give preference to volunteers with previous construction experience. Extra preference given to those of you with tools that you can bring with you. Please also let me know if you have any special skills that will assist us in the construction of these walls. Anyone out there with basic plumbing and/or electric knowledge (expertise not required)?

This trip is for volunteers who enjoy a little adventure! Flexibility is a must on the reservation. You should also be prepared for a lot of fun!

Food:

• TWP will pay for volunteer’s food during their time at Pine Ridge
• Food purchased by TWP will be vegan (no animal products)
• TWP cooking equipment and utensils will be available for use
• Volunteers will be responsible for preparing all their own additional food that they choose to bring

Transportation:

• All volunteers are responsible for their own transportation and related costs getting to Pine Ridge (although I will be happy to coordinate carpools where it is possible)
• Our facility is located down a short dirt road; Many sedans have traveled it

Lodging:

• Volunteers must bring their own camping equipment and will camp on the Red Cloud Renewable Energy campus

To volunteer, you must email TWP’s National Director, Lacey Gaechter, to sign-up. Please email lacey@treeswaterpeople.org the following information:

1. Name of all people in volunteer party
2. Your email address
3. Your cell phone number
4. What days you have available to travel to and work in Pine Ridge
5. Where will you be coming from and returning to (e.g. most people will be coming from Fort Collins, CO)?
6. What is your previous construction experience/ any areas of specialty?
7. Any other questions you may have

Once I have confirmed your spot, I will email you directions to the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center and provide you additional details.

I look forward to hearing from you soon! It should be a lot of fun and a lot of hard work.

Kind regards,

Lacey Gaechter

Join us for Lakota Adventure 2012!

You are invited to the 2012 Lakota Adventure: Past and Present! Below, you will find an itinerary of events and a registration form. If you have any further questions about this trip please contact Lacey Gaechter, National Director, at lacey@treeswaterpeople.org or by phone at (970) 484-3678.

View this document on Scribd

 

Volunteer Opportunity: Help Build a New Training Annex at RCREC

We have purchased the building kit for our new Training Annex at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center (RCREC), and we need your help to put it together! Made possible by our very generous donors, the new Training Annex will provide us with a dedicated training facility, allowing the existing building at the RCREC to become a year-round solar air heater manufacturing facility.

Can you join us November 4-7? Save your spot soon; we only have 12 available.

What: Training Annex Construction
Where: Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Arrive: Friday evening/ afternoon, November 4
Work: Saturday-Sunday, November 5-6
Depart: Monday, November 7
Why: Take this opportunity to visit the Pine Ridge Reservation and play a critical role in our expanding training program.

Keep in mind that South Dakota weather is unpredictable in November. This trip is for volunteers who enjoy a little adventure!

Lodging:

• Volunteers are invited to sleep in the existing co-ed dormitories at the RCREC. There is one semi-reliable indoor plumbing facility, but you should plan on some rustic conditions.
• Volunteers are also welcome to bring camping equipment and camp on the RCREC campus, but be prepared for potentially COLD weather!

Transportation:

• You will be responsible for your own transport to/ from the RCREC.
• For those of you traveling from Fort Collins, CO on Friday and returning on Monday, I will be happy to facilitate carpools.
• Henry does live down a dirt road. Many sedans have traveled it.

Food:

• TWP will provide food for the trip, and volunteers will cook as a group for each meal. The food we provide will be all be vegan (no animal products of any kind). Plan accordingly if you require any other diet.

Our volunteer capacity is limited to 12 people. Please email me as soon as possible to reserve your spot, and be sure to keep me updated if your availability changes so that other people can have the opportunity to volunteer.

To Reserve Your Spot:
Please email Lacey Gaechter (lacey@treeswaterpeople.org) with the following information:

• Let me know when you plan to arrive/ depart
• Where you’ll be coming from
• If you’d like a ride or to offer a ride from Fort Collins
• Will you sleep in our dormitory or bring your own camping equipment?
• Any other questions that you have?

We hope you can make it!

Help Raise Funds for Straw Bale Homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation

The Pine Ridge Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakota, has a major housing crisis. It is common place to have Lakota families living in conditions of extreme overcrowding, with 3 to 4 families inhabiting one three-bedroom home. Many of the families have no electricity, telephone, running water, or sewage systems; and many use wood stoves to heat their homes, depleting limited wood resources. The Lakota people are living in third world conditions, right in our own backyard!

Straw bale Home + Solar Heat = Sustainability

In partnership with Henry Red Cloud, Pine Ridge resident and owner of Lakota Solar Enterprises, we are working to bring sustainable housing solutions to reservation communities and we need your help!  We will begin by constructing a straw bale demonstration site at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center (RCREC), complete with solar heating and lighting. This demonstration site will be a place to conduct workshops, share knowledge, and pass on green building skills throughout Indian Country.  This will be the beginning of a long-term project to bring 600 straw bale houses to the Pine Ridge Reservation, providing families with dignified living conditions that every human being deserves.  Please join us in this effort and consider a donation to this important fundraiser.

How can you help? Make a donation, share this with a friend, donate your birthday (click here to learn how), join us for a FREE straw bale home workshop on Pine Ridge.

Straw Bale Construction Workshop — Aug. 8-12 — FREE

You are invited to a free training and volunteer opportunity to help build a demonstration straw bale home on our partner, Henry Red Cloud’s, property at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

What: Straw bale home construction training and volunteer trip
Where: Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Arrive: Sunday evening/ afternoon, August 7 (you may wish to arrive in time for the Pine Ridge Pow Wow).
Work: Monday-Friday, Aug 8-12
Depart: Saturday, Aug 13
Why: Learn about straw bale construction and help Henry build this demonstration of efficient, affordable housing for Native Americans living on reservations.

Lodging:

• All are invited to camp on Henry’s property at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center. Please bring your own camping equipment.

Transportation:

• In general, you will be responsible for your own transport to/ from Henry’s.
• For those of you traveling from Fort Collins, CO on Sunday and returning on Saturday, I will be happy to facilitate carpools.

Food:

• Our options for food will depend on the number of volunteers who sign-up.
• For now, you should assume that you will be responsible for your own food and preparation.
• TWP is happy to share its kitchen equipment including a stove and shelter. If there are 40 of us, you may be happy you brought your own camp stove…
• There is a small convenience store about 9 miles from Henry’s.

To Reserve Your Spot:
Please email Lacey Gaechter at lacey@treeswaterpeople.org or call us at (970) 484-3678.

• Let Lacey know when you plan to arrive/ depart.
• Where you’ll be coming from.
• If you’d like a ride or to offer a ride from Fort Collins.
• Any questions that you have.

We hope you can join us in bringing sustainable housing options to the Lakota People!

Can’t attend but still want to help? Click here to donate to our straw bale fundraiser online!