Funded Projects2025 Funded Project: High Country Conservation Advocates

Boosting the Economy, Culture, and Quality of Life

High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) is a grassroots non-profit organization that has sought to protect the health, integrity, and beauty of the public lands, waters, and wildlife of Colorado’s Gunnison Country since 1977. The Gunnison Country (the ancestral land of the Ute, Pueblos, and Dinè Bikèyah people) is comprised of over 80 percent public land managed by more than 15 different federal, state, and local government agencies. Famous for its vast acres of unspoiled public lands, the Gunnison Country has become known for its wildlife, wildflowers, mountain peaks, snowpack, and crystal-clear waters, as the majority of the local economy, culture, and quality of life is dependent on the public lands resources.

Promoting Advocacy, Outreach, and Stewardship

These two million acres of public lands are continuously threatened by mining and logging, grazing and recreational overuse, development, drought, wildfire, and climate change. To combat these challenges, HCCA strives to protect public lands through three programs: advocacy, outreach, and stewardship.

Advocacy

The organization’s primary focus is advocacy, which is accomplished through direct participation in public lands processes at the federal, state, and local levels. By maintaining good working relationships with elected officials, HCCA is able to advocate for conservation solutions and encourage outcomes with positive conservation results. By utilizing a range of tools, from direct relationships to public processes and meetings to publishing essays in local newspapers, HCAA is able to achieve its goals, as advocacy is one of the first steps toward protection.

Outreach

Outreach is a strategic component of HCCA’s advocacy work and is accomplished throughout the community through various groups, such as local youth summer and after-school camps, the Gunnison Watershed School District, Western Colorado University, weekly HCCA hikes in the summertime, community events, and farmers’ markets and parades. The organization also targets out-of-town visitors during special events and occasions, including the Mountain Words Literary Festival and the Blister Summit at Crested Butte Ski Area.

Stewardship

In addition to advocacy and outreach, HCCA coordinates and hosts at least six stewardship projects annually that enable local land managers to accomplish restoration work while providing volunteer opportunities and engagement with public lands.

Increasing Our Impact

In honor of Chris’s adventurous spirit, love of people, and passion for travel, the Chris Mikesell Foundation aims to support organizations dedicated to preserving and protecting the environment’s natural beauty. In 2025, the Foundation awarded a $1,000 grant to High Country Conservation Advocates to support its advocacy, outreach, and stewardship programs. Over the past two years, the organization has worked hard to lower operational costs while increasing the impact of its work. The funds donated will help ensure proper oversight, continue to engage residents through restoration projects and community events, and show appreciation to stewardship volunteers through community celebrations—just another step in supporting its conservation mission.

To see a comprehensive history of organizations and causes the Foundation has supported, view all Funded Projects.