Yampatika's Mission
To inspire environmental stewardship through education.
Why Our Work is Important
The population of Northwest Colorado is growing rapidly, and environmental conditions are changing, which means our natural resources and landscapes are being stressed, overused, and polluted. Often these impacts are due to a lack of awareness about how the environment works and an increasing demand for limited natural resources. Yampatika is working to connect people to nature and educate youth and adults about how to better manage and protect the environment and natural resources of Northwest Colorado.
Additionally, youth are suffering from an epidemic of mental illness, loneliness, and disconnection. An increased dependence on digital and social media and fewer built-in opportunities to connect with nature and community are contributing to this epidemic. Yampatika's programming provides youth with opportunities to connect to nature as well as the tools and get engaged in environmental stewardship.
Finally, the Yampa Valley is experiencing a childcare shortage. The childcare that is available is at a high cost. Yampatika is working to address this need by offering high-quality childcare and providing scholarships to low-income families to access this childcare.
Yampatika's programming is provides the communities of Northwest Colorado with a sense of connection to place, community, nature, and self through environmental education.
Environmental education can tackle these issues by:
What Your Support Will Do
Help Us Reach More Students:
This year we had three full-time staff dedicated to bringing FREE environmental education to 3,562 Pre-K through 12th grade students (53% of the student population) across 7 School Districts. Help us continue to grow the number of students we reach by helping us hire more educators and purchase more teaching materials.
Help Us Offer Camp to More Families and Youth:
We provided $20,000 in scholarships to 38 low income families this Summer. These scholarships provided low cost childcare to families and helped campers 5 - 11 years old experience a connection to nature and outdoor education. Next Summer we want to offer scholarships to low income youth ages 12 - 14 years old for our Backpacking Program. This program will youth with an immersive backcountry and leadership development experience.
Help Us Bring Environmental Education to More of the Community:
Yampatika's interpretive programs and educational hikes to ensure more local community members learn best practices for environmental stewardship. Our programs focus on providing visitors and local recreationists with the latest information about environmental stewardship.
Help Us Offer Professional Development Opportunities to High School Students
Yampatika intends to grow the field of future natural resource managers and environmental educators by offering and connecting high-school students to work based learning opportunities. Help us grow this program so that local youth can gain direct experience in these fields.
Help Us Find a New Home:
Yampatika needs a new facility to be able to expand our Summer Camp, serve more students, grow our Environmental Learning Center, and establish a Nature Center for the community. Help us reach this goal by making a donation of over $10,000 towards our future Capital Campaign.
Benefits of Supporting Yampatika
When you make a donation of any size to Yampatika you not only receive the knowledge that you are making a difference, but you get some perks.
Yampatika’s mission is “to inspire environmental stewardship through education” – we are the only nonprofit delivering environmental education throughout Northwest Colorado. We do so in a way that is science-based, experiential, and inclusive. Our goal is to increase understanding and awareness about the key environmental issues and to help establish a connection to nature among visitors and residents to ensure the long-term protection of these resources. We do this by offering the following programming:
Youth Camps (Summer and Blues Break): Yampatika offers all-day camps in the Summer and over select Winter breaks for youth ages 5 -11 years. In 2023 200 youth participated in our Summer Camp or Blues Break Camp. Camp activities focus on getting kids outside and learning about the environment. Approximately 20% of campers receive scholarships to attend Yampatika camps – our goal is to reduce the financial barriers and ensure that more youth and families can access and benefit from the Yampatika Camp experience.
In-School and Out-of-School Programs: Yampatika brings FREE environmental educators into Pre-K through 12th grade classes to share science-based information on a wide diversity of topics: e.g., water conservation, watershed function and river health, wildlife and habitat, geology, local flora and fauna, sustainability, energy and much more through experiential and outdoor place-based learning. Yampatika offers school programming throughout Routt, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Jackson counties. Yampatika partners with many organizations and natural resource managers to deliver compelling programming to students. Our goal is to ensure students of all ages and backgrounds have access to environmental science. Yampatika also partners with childcare providers and other partner programs in the region (e.g., Boys and Girls Club, City of Steamboat Springs, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, Totally Kids, Partners for Youth) to provide environmental education and interactive learning experiences to program participants.
Adult and Community Programming: Yampatika offers summer tours and hikes, and winter snowshoe tours, has a standing interpretive booth at Fish Creek Falls, participates in numerous community events such as Yampa River Fest, Craig River Fest and Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition Festival, hosts fund educational community events Wild Edible Feast and Fall Fest each year, and spearheads numerous environmental stewardship informational campaigns.
Yampatika is based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and has a footprint across Northwest Colorado in Jackson, Routt, Moffat, and Rio Blanco Counties.
Originally a part of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) as a partner in interpretation, Yampatika became its own 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 1992. Yampatika employs a full-time staff of 5 people and 14 part-time or seasonal staff.
Organization name
Yampatika
other names
Yampatika
1992
Tax id (EIN)
84-1216132
Category
Environment, Education
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Colorado State Tax Credits
Colorado Child Care Credit
Address
925 Weiss DriveOther
Yampatika 35435 E. HWY 40Routt County, CO, US