Dear Volunteers,

Given the ongoing uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and out of concern for the health of our staff and volunteers, CFI has decided to cancel all of our direct volunteer projects this season. That includes our individually recruited trail maintenance/restoration projects, those with partnering businesses and the many summer youth camps across the state. We likely will oversee a very small number of projects with larger volunteer partner organizations that can provide a strong support network to cover the enhanced safety procedures this summer. CFI will be focusing on our most essential project work with our seasonal crew members and staff. You will find our fixed-site crews working on Mt. Elbert, Columbia, Grays/Torreys and the Lake City 14ers. Additionally, our Adopt-A-Peak crews will be doing trail maintenance on 15 peaks around the state.

This was not a decision we made lightly. We have spent over two months having extensive communication with our staff, board members, federal agencies, health experts, sponsors and partners. Included was a CFI committee comprising of an intensive care nurse and three physicians, one of whom served for many years as Colorado’s top public health official. Their charge was to look at all of CFI’s field work and determine the safest way to proceed given what we know about the virus and the way it can spread. In the end the determination was made that bringing in even 500 volunteers over a few short months to do work in close physical contact put both volunteers and staff at risk. It will be the first time in 26 years that CFI will not work with dedicated volunteers, who have been an integral part of our work since the beginning. I know how disappointing this year has been, so I’m sorry to add another cancelled event to your list. Know that it is equally disappointing to all of us at CFI to not be working with you.

Whether you’ve been volunteering for us for years or if this was your first time signing up for a project, thank you for your interest in supporting this organization. The reason CFI is so successful is because of the folks who continue to show up and stand behind our mission. We will miss your hard work and enthusiasm as we navigate the field season ahead, but we will look forward to working with you in 2021. If you are out this summer responsibly recreating on one of the 14ers and happen to see us, please give us a (physically distant) wave.

Sincerely,

Hannah Clark