"Be Bear Aware" is the focus for Leadership Steamboat this year

March 24, 2022 Shannon Lukens

Be Bear Aware is the theme of Leadership Steamboat this year. The group of 18 people wants to educate the community about the impacts of living in bear country, in partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. They’re creating a volunteer program which can help CPW. Jennifer MacNeil with Yampa River Botanic Park is part of the Leadership Steamboat group.

The group hopes to raise $10,000 by May 1. They’ll be at Steamboat ACE Hardware on Saturday, April 2, as well as Springalicious on the last day of the ski season April 10. They’re selling t-shirts, recruiting, and fundraising. Leadership Steamboat meets through June 11.

If you would like to help, please make checks payable to:

Steamboat Springs Chamber and include “Bear Aware” in the subject line.
Drop off your check at the Steamboat Springs Visitors Center, 125 Anglers Drive.
Or mail your check to PO BOX 774408, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477.
To donate by credit card, please call the Steamboat Springs Chamber Visitors Center at 970-879-0880 M-F 10 am – 2:30 pm, and specify the donation is for “Bear Aware.”

Colorado Parks and Wildlife received 3,701 reports of sightings and conflicts with bears last year. The majority of those were from Northwest Colorado. The 1,834 bear reports filed from the northwest in 2021 was 192 more than in 2020, but was also fewer than the 2,146 on record for 2019. CPW reports that 66 bears were euthanized in Colorado last year.

Here is more from the Steamboat Springs Chamber- Leadership Steamboat, in collaboration with Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Dear Neighbors,

Leadership Steamboat created a Bear Aware Program to educate our community about the impacts of living in bear country. In partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, our goal is to protect bears while living beside them, keep them wild, and educate the community on how to KEEP BEARS WILD. Will you join us in keeping bears wild? We can make a difference, but we need your help.

Our objective with this program is to create a volunteer program that will help educate and inform our community and its visitors of the importance of being Bear Aware. We will produce educational materials targeted to both locals and visitors. We will also recruit effective volunteers and outfit them with the tools they need to deliver the messaging community-wide.

We are raising money to produce promotional and education materials. Your donation will impact the Steamboat Springs community, bears, and visitors. And as the bears are already waking up, we need your help NOW! Our goal is to raise $10,000 by May 1, 2022.

We will have a community booth at ACE Hardware, the farmers’ markets, and Steamboat Resort’s closing day event, “Springalicous,” to recruit volunteers and educate the public on being Bear Aware. In addition, we are selling t-shirts, exclusively designed and produced locally, by Ohana.

We enter our black bears’ natural habitat when enjoying Colorado’s great outdoors and wilderness. Black bears are curious, intelligent, and resourceful; they will explore all food sources. It is our responsibility to KEEP BEARS WILD. Bears will ALWAYS go to the easy food source. If they find food near homes, campgrounds, vehicles, or communities, they will return for more. With our growing population and visitors coming to Steamboat and surrounding areas, time spent in bear country is on the rise. The reoccurrence of bears in populated areas has led to increasing human-bear conflicts. CPW may often euthanize bears who become aggressive in pursuing an easy meal. Every time CPW is forced to euthanize a bear, it is not only the bear that loses. We lose a little piece of the “wild” that makes OUR community special.

You can help. KEEP BEARS WILD. Your support is essential in resolving these conflicts. Any amount will help make a difference to kickstart our efforts to KEEP BEARS WILD.

See us at our kick-off events! April 2 at ACE Hardware 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., and “Springalicious” April 10 at the base of the Steamboat Ski Area. We will be selling t-shirts, recruiting volunteers, and engaging our community. So please stop by and see us!

Also, if you are interested in volunteering, please let me know. We need passionate people to help spread awareness and reduce human-bear conflicts this year and beyond.

Please make checks payable to:

Steamboat Springs Chamber and include “Bear Aware” in the subject line.
Drop off your check at the Steamboat Springs Visitors Center, 125 Anglers Drive.
Or mail your check to PO BOX 774408, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477.
To donate by credit card, please call the Steamboat Springs Chamber Visitors Center at 970-879-0880 M-F 10 am – 2:30 pm, and specify the donation is for “Bear Aware.”

Thank you on behalf of Leadership Steamboat, CPW and bears,

Leadership Steamboat Class of 2022

Jennifer MacNeil, Yampa River Botanic Park
Abby Schissler, Bella Vista Estate
Brandon Marr, Holiday Inn Steamboat Springs
Chelsie Holmes, Advocates of Routt County
Colleen Miller, Discover Learning Center/Family Development Center
Elise Branscum, Colorado Group Realty
Halea Nudy, UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center
Janey Been, City of Steamboat Springs
Joern Howind, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation
Kelsie Bryant, The Steamboat Grand
Kendra Alfieri, Routt County
Kiyah Roe, Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors
Alyssa “La La” Cartmill, Yampa Valley Housing Authority
Maggie Fess, UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center
Michael Kozer, TALON Grips
Michael Woodbridge, U.S. Forest Service
Sarah Clemmons, UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center
Willa Seybolt, Partners in Routt County

Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Christy Bubenheim