During a ceremony in Las Vegas, the Dolores River Boating Advocates were recognized for their community fundraising efforts by the Conservation Lands Foundation.
The award and $5,000 donation were presented during CLF’s annual Friends Rendezvous Oct. 1.
Boating Advocates board members Sam Carter and Jay Loschert attended and said it validates the hard work it took to release a documentary film on the Dolores River.
“We wanted a big fundraising activity, and we did it through a film that tells the honest story of the Dolores River,” Carter said during the acceptance speech.
The film “River of Sorrows, Inheriting the Dolores” has shown to packed audiences from Dolores to Grand Junction, Durango to Flagstaff. It was paid for through a $12,000 grant from Patagonia and a local fundraising campaign.
Film sales and showings has raised awareness and donations for the nonprofit, Loschert said.
During the annual river permit party last year, the group had 125 people and raised $7,000. During the film debut this year at the river permit party, 400 people attended and the group raised $15,000, he said.
“It gave us a real boost and helped with our goal of raising awareness about the issues the Dolores River faces,” Loschert said.
Since forming in 2012, the advocates group has been active in its efforts to protect the river’s ecosystem and promote whitewater boating.
They successfully negotiated the installation of boater friendly fences on the upper section, conduct annual tamarisk removal and campsite cleanups on the lower section, added put-ins and takeouts along the river, helped to fund a Lower Dolores river gauge, host river tours for students, and work with local agencies to advocate for improved water management and flows below the dam.
“Our goal is to continue the discussion on the future of the river and how water is managed,” Loschert said. “We want to keep the issues in the front of people’s minds.”
Boating Advocates recently hired Amber Clark as its new program coordinator. Clark has worked for San Juan Citizens Alliance and for the Dolores River Dialogue, a local stakeholder group working on water-management, recreational boating, and fish issues facing the Lower Dolores River.
“We are thrilled to bring her on board. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, and has good working relationships with all of the stakeholders,” Loschert said.
Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt applauded Boating Advocates and other conservation groups recognized at the CLF award ceremony.
Too often, management of public lands “is from the top down without a lot of connection to the communities that surround them,” Babbitt said. “Working from the bottom up as these groups do should be celebrated. Never lose sight of this infusion of diversity and dynamism that infiltrates the culture of land conservation so we will awaken and motivate the entire American conservation movement.”
jmimiaga@the-journal.com