The Outdoor Stewardship Institute (OSI) by Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) offers in-depth training resources for any individual or organization to learn or improve their stewardship skills and prepare for a variety of leadership roles.
Hands-on volunteer experiences are one of the most powerful means of creating a caring and engaged public, and volunteer programs – when done right – have proven to be an effective, affordable, and immediately available workforce capable of tackling our most pressing outdoor stewardship needs.
The Outdoor Stewardship Institute (OSI) was originally developed in collaboration with other organizations and is now housed within Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC), Colorado’s largest and oldest outdoor stewardship organization. Since 1984, VOC has worked with land management agencies of all types to engage more than 131,000 volunteers in over 1,500 public land stewardship projects – an estimated labor value of more than $26 million. Since its inception, more than 250 agencies and organizations have benefited from OSI’s training model, which trains more than 300 volunteers and staff each year.
Throughout the site, you’ll find free guides and hands-on training to help you or your organization improve your outdoor leadership and technical skills and start, enhance, or expand your outdoor stewardship volunteer programs. By sharing proven practices, it is our goal to enable others – in Colorado and elsewhere – to take on more of this critical boots-on-the-ground work. With more of us actively caring for the outdoors, we will ensure the next generation will find these outdoor places at least as good – if not better – than what we inherited.
Featured Guide
Project Management Guide
Volunteers can serve as an integral workforce to maintain, construct, restore, and protect our natural resources. To maximize volunteer effectiveness and ultimately increase your own organization’s capacity to tackle stewardship needs, the Project Management Guide offers a comprehensive foundation for setting project goals, structuring volunteer groups, managing expectations, developing partnerships, and more.
Featured Partner
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is a nationally recognized leader in conservation, outdoor recreation and wildlife management. The agency manages 41 state parks, all of Colorado’s wildlife, more than 350 state wildlife areas and a host of recreational programs. The mission of Colorado Parks and Wildlife is to perpetuate the wildlife resources of the state, to provide a quality state parks system, and to provide enjoyable and sustainable outdoor recreation opportunities that educate and inspire current and future generations to serve as active stewards of Colorado’s natural resources.
