OSMP Volunteerism and Service Learning 2025 Annual Report

This program is now in its third year at OSMP. Designed to model appropriate dog/guardian behavior. Ten Ambassadors and their 8 furry companions educated visitors on dog-related topics. Important subjects include the voice and sight program, canine related safety, and resource protection. As well as participating in our annual DOO It education event, they assisted with new “dog water” stations in the Chautauqua area this year.

Monitors spent many field hours out on the land counting and reporting on animal presence and behavior. OSMP’s staff ecologists use volunteer data while managing land for bat and raptor species, and communicate information out in a monthly newsletter to volunteers. It was a successful nesting year for raptors.

Bike Patrollers were very active this year. They hosted and staffed 6 outreach tables in partnership with the Boulder County Horse Association and Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance. The program continued a successful campaign of giving away bike bells and educating riders on their use to promote sharing the trail respectfully. Bike Patrollers also went on multiple North Sky small group rides as a presence on the land effort.

Flagstaff Nature Center, Chautauqua Ranger Cottage and Trailhead Ambassadors continue to help thousands of hikers and visitors with trail and safety assistance as well as natural resource information. They made over 35,000 public contacts again this year at those 3 locations. As volunteer needs change, this gives expert community members a spot to work and contribute without necessitating the need to be out hiking or biking on the land.

OSMP offers a variety of restoration stewardship options, from group volunteering to solo projects in priority locations. The Skunk Canyon Weeder volunteers continued to have a strong presence doing manual weed control work, predominately pulling Myrtle Spurge. Chautauqua Native Garden volunteers keep our gateway to the Flatirons looking great by weeding, trimming, transplanting and collecting seeds for native perennials and shrubs. In addition, a committed volunteer helped with restoration stewardship needs at Mt. Sanitas.

As tradition, another class of 12 new volunteers trained this fall. There are now 70 active Trail Ambassadors who made more than 45,000 public contacts on the land. Ambassadors have changed to a system of counting if their contacts are informative (directions, natural resource information), non-informative which is a cordial greeting and brief conversation, or infraction based (advising on regulations). They are very appreciative of their updated OSMP volunteer uniforms, to include sun protective shirts and hats.

Staff spent much time supporting the new group of 10 Education Naturalists trained the previous year as well as re-engaging with their current cohort to help mentor this new team. These volunteers are tasked with educating Boulder's youth both in schools as well as on OSMP land. They also spent the year re-working the in-classroom Winter Wildlife education series that reaches over 1,000 students with more than 135 individual programs. With another 2,000 students reached on field trips.

OSMP on-boarded 6 field and 3 research volunteers to assist staff in the Cultural Stewardship Program in partnership with the Indian Peaks Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society (IPCAS). The program provides regular opportunities for volunteers to assist staff with projects in the field which greatly increases program capacity. In the future, the Cultural Resource Stewardship Program (CRSP) program will expand to allow volunteers to independently monitor cultural resources across the OSMP system. This will help staff to track resource conditions across OSMP over time and mitigate impacts to cultural resources such as looting or erosion.

Six volunteers worked extensively on programming for, and presenting to adults to include Forest Bathing, White Rocks hikes, Art offerings and Jewel Mountain field trips.

Five OSBT trustees supported priority wildfire resilience efforts including night-time safety-related infrastructure, communications, and enforcement along the Flagstaff Mountain corridor. Trustees also approved the acquisition of key mineral rights.

Other skilled volunteers offered their talent and time to make an impact at OSMP, including photographers, recreation volunteers (fishing programs), and Administrative Volunteers, who continue to help manage the volunteer database!

In 2025, Bridge House Ready To Work (RTW) Crews, which are adult work crews of six who are experiencing homelessness and are given the opportunity to rebuild their lives through work, supported the work of about 10 OSMP work groups. A majority of their projects supported OSMP Climate Action projects. The two RTW crews provide annual support for the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) fine‑fuels mowing program at Shanahan Ridge, North Boulder, Wonderland Lake, and Chautauqua.

This multilayered program involves the teen group Natural Highs that cultivate, grow and harvest an herbal apothecary at Light Root Community Farm for a holistic approach to sustainable regenerative organic agriculture practices. Teens in this program also learn about OSMP’s agricultural lease program along with wellness and recovery practices.

A group of 15-20 youth from Rocky Mt. Equality (LGBT+ middle schoolers) joined Esoterra Culinary Garden for monthly programs that taught students about vegetable farming, the preservation of agricultural lands on OSMP, and pollinator health. Students picked out what seedlings to plant, observed growth changes, trimmed tomatoes and learned companion planting basics.