We would like to welcome you to the Colorado Forest Collaboratives Network (CFCN).
“As Coloradoans face increasingly difficult forest health challenges, some of our greatest successes are thanks to [collaborative groups’] dedication, creativity, and ability to bring people together,” Colorado Department of Natural Resources Director Dan Gibbs shared in a letter of support for the network. “I am pleased to share my support for the all-new Colorado Forest Collaboratives Network.”
The purpose of this network is to benefit and support place-based forest collaboratives in Colorado by connecting them to information, resources, and each other, and by telling their stories to make their value and needs understood.
For the last decade, collaboratives across Colorado have come together to share stories, ideas, and resources at an Annual Forest Collaboratives Summit. Each year, the summits left people thinking, “Why can’t we do this all the time?” In 2021, we put together a situation assessment to understand the need and desire for an ongoing, state-wide network of place-based forest collaboratives. Our results showed broad support for a network.
In the coming months, in addition to having one-on-one phone calls with collaborative group leaders, we at the CFCN will begin sharing relevant opportunities and resources via email. Later this year, we plan to host a series of regional meetings where we can get to know you and your groups in your own geographic area; ultimately, these meetings will lead into an annual forest collaboratives summit.
Ultimately, this network will be driven by collaboratives, for collaboratives. We are seeking input on an ongoing basis to better understand what resources already exist for collaboratives, what resources are still needed, how to share information most effectively, how to facilitate relationship-building between collaboratives, and how to amplify collaborative stories from the bottom up.
For more information or to share your ideas for the network, please contact Katie McGrath Novak, Colorado Forest Collaboratives Network Coordinator, at katie.mcgrath@colostate.edu. Visit the CFCN webpage, hosted by the Center for Collaborative Conservation, for more information and updates.
