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Outdoor Stewardship Institute is the "New COTI"

photo of people on bridge

Outdoor Stewardship Institute trains
Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado crews

Colorado Outdoor Training Initiative (COTI) and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) have merged to create the Outdoor Stewardship Institute (OSI).

See more on OSI at www.voc.org/

The Merger

On July 19, 2007, driven by a desire to strengthen training and stewardship services and achieve better economies of scale, members of the Colorado Outdoor Training Initiative (COTI) and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) Boards of Directors approved a corporate merger of the two organizations. The finalized merger plan created the Outdoor Stewardship Institute (OSI), a program of VOC, and formed the Outdoor Stewardship Institute Advisory Board.

The Outdoor Stewardship Institute (OSI)

Guided by the Advisory Board, the Outdoor Stewardship Institute will:

manage and expand all of COTI's existing program and training functions,
provide a range of additional stewardship services from technical advising to volunteer management,
organize and deliver land stewardship and conservation leadership training workshops, and
develop new training curricula, services and programming that meet the needs of stakeholders.

Staffing and Advisory Board

The Outdoor Stewardship Institute will be led by a Deputy Director, who will report to the VOC Executive Director, Ann Baker Easley. The OSI Advisory Board will consist of up to twelve members and include a minimum of three seats for federal and state land management agency representatives. Current COTI Board Chairman Kim Frederick will serve as Chair of the Advisory Board who will oversee the direction and future activities of the Outdoor Stewardship Institute. Kim will also serve as member of the VOC Board of Directors. The VOC Board of Directors will be responsible for financial oversight and governance of OSI.

We are sad to announce that Walt Horner, COTI Executive Director, tendered his resignation to the COTI Board of Directors prior to the merger. He will remain in his role and work with the Advisory Board until mid-August, at which time he will need to relocate to Boston, MA for family reasons.

The Benefits

In merging the two organizations, VOC and COTI are poised to increase statewide stewardship capacity by providing volunteer management resources and training and technical assistance to communities, organizations and agencies across Colorado and the country. Benefits for:

Land Managers

Streamline funding and staff resources when managing agency and volunteer training needs.
Increase the quality and quantity of citizen stewards that are able to lead stewardship projects in concert with land managers.

Stewardship Organizations

Access one centralized location for COTI's respected training curricula and programs as well as VOC's technical expertise and strengths in volunteer management, marketing and outreach.

Effectively collaborate with a variety of stakeholders to identify and develop new training and stewardship partnerships.

Volunteers

An assurance that training will continue to be of the highest quality and employ the latest leadership and stewardship skills and techniques.

Develop a comprehensive set of leadership and stewardship skills that are transferable to a variety of land management agencies and organizations.

OSI offers new workshops

The popular Trail Crew Leadership course was developed by the Outdoor Stewardship Institute (formerly known as Colorado Outdoor Training Initiative) to grow a larger pool of skilled volunteers for basic trail construction and maintenance. Several states have taken advantage of the partnership between COTI and American Trails to offer the course locally. OSI is currently developing additional courses on other trail-related topics:

Weed Management: a one-day training for volunteers and staff to include weed identification, history of introductions, weed ecology, and treatment options.
Trail Maintenance Skills Workshop: a menu of skill-based trainings (one day or half day) focusing on trail maintenance topics from tread maintenance to corridor maintenance to water diversion structure maintenance.
Project Management: a two-day workshop to learn to interface with land management agencies to plan, implement and accomplish specific conservation projects.
Sustainable Mountain Trails: Assessment, Planning & Design: a two-three day introductory course on successful tools and techniques to assess, plan, design and implement sustainable high-use multiple-use mountain trails.

For information on the Outdoor Stewardship Institute:
OSI, 600 S. Marion Pkwy, Denver, CO 80209 - 303-715-1010 x21 or ann@voc.org

The National Trails Training Partnership

American Trails, P.O. Box 491797, Redding, CA 96049-1797 • (530) 547-2060 • Fax: (530) 547-2035 • nttp@americantrails.org • www.AmericanTrails.org

The National Trails Training Partnership is an alliance of Federal agencies, training providers, nationwide supporters, and providers of products and services. Visit the online calendar of training opportunities, access hundreds of trail-related resources, read the news, learn how you can help, and see training resources in your state.

This material is based upon work supported by the Federal Highway Administration under Cooperative Agreement DTFH61-06-H-00023. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the Author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Federal Highway Administration.

Related Pages:

Training & Education

Outdoor Stewardship Institute is the "New COTI"

The National Trails Training Partnership