Thank you, Nate!!
As they say, all good things must come to an end. For a year, we’ve been blessed by having a part-time paid resource supporting and developing our activity in Nathaniel (Nate) Goeckner. This position was partially funded by a grant, but our time is up, so we are needing to say goodbye (for now) to Nathaniel. We are very grateful for his support, attention, and effort over the past year. Having a paid position helped us long-standing volunteers in keeping our work going. Fortunately, he is moving into a full time position at the Boulder Watershed Collective, so he won’t be far away. We might still see him around at meetings and the like in the future!
He wanted to share a few words, so here is a note from Nate:
As my position with S&S has ended, I wanted to take a second to thank the Coal Creek Community and the wonderful volunteers and board members of Saws and Slaws for such a great summer season. It was great to see how much can be accomplished with hard-working and caring community members and volunteers. It was amazing to see community members not only mitigating their own properties but volunteering to help their neighbors throughout the canyon. I think this is one of the most remarkable things about Saws and Slaws, not only worrying about your own property and protecting your own things but to go beyond that and taking a larger empathic view in your community and striving to reduce risk and protect others that live in your canyon. As we confront longer, larger, and more severe wildfire seasons, I believe that this community approach can be paramount in creating safer and stronger communities.
(Annette – you could put this picture of Nate next to his text above, if it fits)
Thank you, again, Nate, for all you’ve done this year! We’ll miss you!
Save the Date – Join us on Colorado Gives Day – December 7th
Colorado Gives Day is December 7th. This is a key fundraising event for non-profits across the state. This is our first year participating in this event, and it could be huge for us! People from all over the state could be supporting our activity right here in Coal Creek Canyon and neighboring communities. Plus, there is an incentive fund that boosts the value of each dollar donated to us on or before Colorado Gives Day on the Gives Day site. When we come together as a state, it makes all of us stronger.
Our BIG HAIRY fundraising goal is to replace our old dump truck, Woody. When we had Woody it significantly facilitated both slash hauling and delivering firewood. Sadly, Woody is no longer operational. It is greatly missed, but we know that replacing it could cost us quite a bit.
If you really want to help us reach this goal, you can also create a fundraising page that will further promote Saws & Slaws as a non-profit to support. You can share your fundraising page with neighbors, friends and family. The more we raise the more of the incentive fund we’ll get, too. For more information about creating a fundraising page for us, please visit coloradogives.org/fundraising If you are not up to that, no problem. You can make an one-time donation or you can schedule something for monthly. Minimum donation is $5 and every donation will get us closer to our goal of replacing Woody. The website is now live as of November 1st, so you can schedule your donation for Colorado Gives Day by clicking the “Schedule for Gives Day” button.
We would really appreciate your support. As I said above, this could be a really impactful fundraiser for us, so thank you in advance for your donations. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email us at sawsandslaws@gmail.com
Upcoming Events
We gave you a heads up on a few of these last month. A little more details are available now. Watch our website and Facebook page for updates.
Forest Field Visit: Mitigation Treatments in Arapaho Roosevelt National Forest
Thursday, November 4th at 3 pm – Kelly Dahl Campground
Join us for a field trip to forest restoration treatments outside the Kelly Dahl Campground led by USFS foresters and wildfire fuel managers. We will be hiking through mechanical and hand-thinned forest restoration treatments outside the USFS Kelly Dahl Campground. On this hike, we will learn how restoration is being used to make healthier forests by creating conditions that represent historical conditions pre-fire exclusion. We will be joined by USFS foresters and wildfire fuel managers that will speak to their work and what we see on the landscape at each location. We will be hiking around, so please bring adequate footwear, water, and whatever else you might need.
Camp Eden and Copperdale Wildfire Risk Reduction Workshop
Sunday, November 7th from 2 to 4 pm – Coal Creek Canyon
We are seeking participants in a series of workshops to collaborate with neighbors to identify local community values around wildfire risk concerns, understand how local issues fit into the larger social and ecological landscape and work toward reimagining a community more resilient to wildfire. The conversations will be facilitated by local community members and regional experts based on the interests of the participants. We hope to come out of the series with agreed upon priorities driven by the values of the community and actionable steps forward to improve the health and safety of our community and forests. For this first series, we are focusing on the Copperdale and Camp Eden neighborhoods, but all are welcome to join the discussion. Contact Jody Dickson, jody@dickson.org, 303-588-6639 for final location and to RSVP.
Pile Building Workshop
November 2021 – Coal Creek Canyon
Learn to build proper slash piles that burn efficiently, effectively and safely. Slash pile burning can be an efficient, safe and cost-effective slash removal and fuel reduction method. This workshop is open to Front Range landowners desiring to learn proper slash pile building by doing it. Experienced wildland firefighters from the Ember Alliance will be presenting, so bring your questions about forest management, thinning, pile construction and pile burning. Be sure to invite your friends and neighbors in the area looking to learn about slash pile burning, too. Protect your home and your forests through winter time slash disposal.
2022 Season Applications Now Open
Saws and Slaws is now taking applications for neighborhood events for 2022. Spaces are filling up, so now is the time to talk to your neighbors about getting on the schedule for summer and fall. Get out, connect with those in your proximity, and vow to get your properties safer and healthier. Got questions? Call Us! (303) 642-0273. http://sawsandslaws.org .
Saws and Slaws is a 501(c)3 organization committed to Building Stronger Communities Through A Healthier Forest. Find out more at http://sawsandslaws.org and Join Us!
