Elaine Green PWV Chair 2019-2020 --
As usual, my tenure as PWV Chair started in October at the Year End Event/Annual Meeting, where we gathered to eat, drink, and celebrate the past year’s accomplishments of our organization and it’s new class of members. Little did I know that event, along with a couple of great Affiliation Gatherings, would be the last “usual” things about my time as Chair.
Yes, 2020 was an unprecedented year. We gathered in January for a roast/retirement party, to send off our beloved USFS liaison Kevin Cannon. Then in March we made the gut-renching decision to suspend all recruitment activities due to Covid. Soon thereafter we realized we would not be able to hold Kick off Night or Spring Training or any other training or social activities. The Board and several committees continued to meet, mostly virtually.
But most of us never saw other PWVs in person from then on. That was hard for a group as social as we are!
Our Board of Directors made a smooth transition from meeting in the Forest Service Conference room to meeting virtually, another first for PWV. The Board took on a number of issues from updating our written policies, operationalizing our Strategic Plan, to working on the problem of notifying PWVs in the field when an emergency such as the Cameron Peak Fire is creating dangerous conditions.
I want to personally thank the 2019-2020 Board members for their dedication and perseverance this year. It was a pleasure to serve with them. They were:
- Bob Hansen
- Janis Kloster
- Katina Mallon
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Jack Morgan
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Linda Reiter
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Karen Roth
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Mike Shearer
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Bruce Williams
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Jim Zakely
We also had an outstanding group of Officers:
- Tom Adams – Past Chair
- Janet Caille – Secretary
- Mike Corbin – Chair Elect
- Sandy Sticken - Treasurer
- And our USFS Liaison, Kevin Cannon, then Kristy Wumkes
Even though attendance is not required, our great Advisory Board was also diligent in attending virtual Board meetings throughout the year and offering their wisdom and experience. Kevin Cannon joined that group and continues to offer his expertise.
Once again, we had a great group of Committee Chairs who hung in there and are eager for a restart, asap! Examples include Celia Walker, Recruitment co-chair, who took on the task of maintaining contact with the 74 people who had applied, and she did a fantastic job. Another is Fred Allen, Stock Committee co-chair was able to pull off Covid-safe work days to improve the corals at Stub Creek so stock members can use that as a base camp. Mary Beth McCubbin, Kids In Nature Chair applied and received an award from Larimer County for the great work KIN group does. We were awarded a grant from the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance and bought 8 Chromebooks for use by the Recertification committee and others. The Strategic Planning Committee under the leadership of Jerry Hanley moved us forward in taking planning to the committee level. We backpacked for Wild 56 thanks to Russ Smith. The Year End Event Committee came up with a new way to celebrate the accomplishments of the year. The Web Team continues to offer valuable support and both Alan Meyer and Karl Riters can now add “Zoom-master” to their resumes. The Office Crew took on the care and feeding (that is sanitizing and charging) our Spot units from their homes and set up a safe system for touchless checkout from their front porch.
Thanks to all the dedicated folks for going above and beyond patrolling to keep PWV strong and vital.
Although patrolling was strictly voluntary, there were 387 patrols and 4,303 members of the public contacted on our trails before the Cameron Peak fire shut us down again. Janet Caille topped the list with 232.
As we look ahead, we know the challenges to PWV and the Canyon Lakes Ranger District aren’t letting up. We will have tons of trail work to do after our fires, and Covid will continue to challenge us to find new and creative ways to fulfill our mission.
Luckily, we have a great new Board and a great set of new officers to lead that work. I look forward to being part of what lies in store for PWV.
Elaine Green
Chair, PWV Board of Directors, 2019-2020