ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Carbondale Roaring Fork Audubon Mural 

Based on National Audubon Society’s Mural Project, Roaring Fork Audubon sponsored the creation of a nine-foot by 15-foot mural in downtown Carbondale. The mural is intended to call attention to the 389 species of birds that are threatened with extinction due to loss of habitat from wildfires and climate change. Learn More at Audubon.org

Our mural is crafted by local muralist Gabriela Mejia and is located at the south end of Third Street Center between Lift Up and Senior Matters. Please drop by to see this beautiful creation. Assisting Gabriela was the young, local artist and avid birder George Waaler.

The mural features several of our local birds and conveys the important message of keeping cats indoors to protect them and our valley’s birds.

We salute RFA member Nancy Peterson for her successful efforts in locating the artist and the perfect place to paint our mural. She is encouraging other Audubon chapters to incorporate murals in their communities.

More Accomplishments

  • As an all-volunteer organization, we try to be on the front lines of conservation in our Valley.

  • Full scholarships are given to local kids to attend a week-long birding/nature camp to help develop future conservationists and learn about our natural world and why it’s important to save it.

  • Our contributions to the Audubon Colorado Lobbyist Fund support environmental lobbyists working on state issues.

  • We work with interested local schools, educating them about our local birds, installing free feeding stations and nest boxes, and showing them our avian wonders with binoculars, movies and walks.

  • As part of a survey team, we document the animals and plants of the Roaring Fork Watershed, including cataloging most of the bird species for the first time.

  • Annually, we provide an updated, printed bird and mammal booklet for the Roaring Fork Valley; this is also available on our website.

  • We continue to protect, monitor, and educate locals about Carbondale’s birding trail along the Crystal River.

  • Guided, free birding/nature trips are offered for all locals in our Valley.

  • Binoculars for adults and children are provided to make sure everyone can participate equally.

  • Through local program Defiende Nuestra Tierra, we reach out to our Latino community.

  • Joining with Wilderness Workshop, we lead walks to encourage wilderness protections for our Valley’s gems.

  • In partnership with ACES and Wilderness Workshop, we offer free educational speakers by hosting Naturalist Nights in Aspen and Carbondale.

  • Our monthly publication of email blasts keeps our Valley informed of hot-action topics, our free field trips, and programs and speakers.

  • Partnering with Roaring Fork Sierra Club, we plan to expand our field trips.

  • We continue to educate about Bird Friendly Living focusing on Saving Habitat, Cats Indoors, Bird-window Collision Prevention, Eliminating Pesticide Use, Planting Native, Buying Shade Grown Coffee, and more.

  • Every year, we conduct Christmas and Spring Bird Counts and send our data to Cornell Lab of Ornithology so they have a picture of what is happening with our birdlife.

  • We monitor and care for bluebird nest boxes in various places in our Valley.

  • We are surveying the Aspen Glen bald eagles to help this residential area protect the iconic species that has been nesting there for years.

  • We monitor and survey the AVLT-preserved Coffman Ranch in Carbondale to document species that need protection. We installed and monitor nest boxes there.

  • Working with the BLM, we have installed more than 30 nest boxes and interpretive signs in their newly acquired Sutey property in Missouri Heights.

  • We are working with the Crystal Wild and Scenic team to make sure our river remains healthy and protects the birds and other animals that rely on it. (See Wild and Scenic under our Conservation tab.)

  • All Valley residents who have questions about our birds and how to protect them are encouraged to contact us.

Help us do more!

IN THE PAST WE HAVE

  • Funded the radio transmitters on the rare Black Swifts to find their previously unknown wintering grounds in the Brazilian Amazon, enabling conservationists to work on protections

  • Installed interpretive signage at Spring Park Reservoir to help folks understand the importance of this stopover as a feeding and recovery area for thousands of waterfowl during migration; we were also instrumental in having the reservoir designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA), a national program with more than 50 IBAs in Colorado

  • Helped to fund the purchase of Tucson Audubon’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Southeast Arizona, an important fueling station for migrating hummingbirds, many of which breed in the Roaring Fork Valley

  • Partnered with the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas to help support their research and documentation of birds in our state and how to protect them

  • Supported the ongoing efforts of the Thompson Divide Coalition to protect our Valley’s fragile breeding lands

  • Set up window treatments for our local bus transportation system to use on their glass bus stops to help prevent bird-glass collisions; and, although they have not yet implemented the system, we are here for them

  • Worked with several of the local schools building bluebird nest boxes with the children and educating them about habitats, migration and nesting

  • Assisted our U.S. Forest Service with their ongoing project to improve habitat in the various elevations of our diverse Valley by recommending critical treatment times

  • Met with local government and architects to talk about the options for bird-safe building