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Organizational Capacity and Management
Organizational Capacity and Management
​​​​​​​​​A Cherry Creek State Park staff member works with volunteers.​

​​​​Why Is Organizational Capacity & Management a Challenge?

The complexity of wildlife and habitat conservation intensifies the need for collaboration, alignment, resources, and support. 

What Are Some Examples?​

  • Lack of funding

  • Different goals (federal, state, local)

  • Gaps in authority (federal, state, local)

  • Legislation/policy changes

What Are The Effects?

  • Gaps in a collective ability among federal, state and local entities to collaborate and share information limit the effects of important conservation actions. 

  • The absence of consistent regulatory documents on a federal, state and local level to guide conservation efforts limits the effectiveness and efficiency of conservation impact. 

What Are Some Of The Things CPW Is Doing? 

A juvenile cooper's hawk at Lathrop State Park.Managing more than 40 state parks, over 300 wildlife areas​, and all of Colorado’s wildlife​ is a big responsibility for a single agency. CPW has a robust volunteer program​ where volunteers dedicate over 300,000 hours every year to helping manage and maintain the resources and recreation opportunities that make Colorado so special. 

We leverage partnerships throughout the majority of our programs like the Habitat Partnership Program, our Private Land Program​ and our Partners in the Outdoors program to name a few. 

Conservation organizations such as Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, Trout Unlimited, Trust for Public Lands, The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited and many more help CPW maximize land conservation and contribute significantly to wildlife management throughout Colorado. We have amazing relationships with Great Outdoors Colorado, the Land Trust community and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado who are working to expand conservation efforts, educational opportunities and public engagement in taking care of our precious resources. 

In an effort to embrace technology, get residents and visitors outdoors, and pool conservation efforts, CPW created the State Parks Nature​Finder Project on iNaturalist.org. The app gives CPW more eyes and ears in the field, and submissions contribute to a growing body of monitoring data and inform conservation efforts. ​

Somewhat elusive top predators, raptors are an indicator of overall ecosystem health, and are therefore important to keep tabs on. Volunteers​ in 24 state parks in Colorado use GIS technology, real-time digital databases, and a patient eye to monitor active nests through the Raptor Monitoring Program​. This important information informs virtually all state park activity. 

To make up for biological and technical challenges, CPW is experimenting with many technology-based devices and high-capacity databases to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of conservation ​efforts.​​

Conservation