ABOUT
WHO WE ARE
We serve the stewardship needs of Huerfano and Las Animas counties, covering 186,156 acres of public land with four watersheds, 100+ miles of multi-use trails, and numerous parks that provide recreational and ecological amenities.
See our 2023 Annual Report.
What We Do
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
La Veta Trails would not be what is it without its volunteers, donors, and supporters.
VOLUNTEER STEWARDS
We provide opportunities for people to act on their stewardship ethic.
YOUTH STEWARDS
We offer opportunities for youth to work outside and get hands-on training on leadership development, care and maintenance of trails and trail structures, and Leave No Trace.
ENVIROMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
We work with our partners to execute priority projects that improve wildlife habitat, address the negative impact of recreational use, restore open spaces, mitigate wildfire, and educate volunteers and community members on relevant ecological topics.
SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP
We provide opportunities for Volunteer Stewards and Technical Crew members to improve their skills through training and certification.
OUTDOOR RECREATION INFRASTRUCTURE
We support our partners through grant writing, planning and construction, and community fundraising to demonstrate support for and develop new outdoor recreation amenities.
EVENTS
We host community, trail, and fundraising events for supporters to be involved with La Veta Trails.
PARKS AND TRAIL BUILDING
We support our partners through grant writing, planning and construction, and community fundraising to demonstrate community support for parks, trails, and recreational amenities.
OUR BOARD
Marilyn Russell
Marilyn is retired from the University of Southern Maine where she served as a Public Policy Research Associate, leading projects focused on improving the effectiveness of services for young children.
She has facilitated the development of strategic and outcome monitoring plans, conducted evaluation studies, delivered training, and developed human resource policies for numerous agencies. Marilyn has been an outdoor enthusiast since childhood camping trips with her family and through Girl Scouts. As an avid walker and loves to flyfish.
Judy Fisher
Judy has a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in School Counseling, and is recently retired from La Veta High School. She has been a part of the La Veta community since 1983, and moved to La Veta full time in 2011 after retiring from the Denver Public Schools and the Denver School for Science and Technology.
Prior to her career in education, she owned a successful business distributing national and international newspapers, including The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. She served as Secretary/Treasurer and Vice President on the board of the American Association of Independent News Distributors from 1992-1999, when, after 27 years, she sold the business. Judy is a founding member of Citizens for Huerfano County and serves on the CHC board as Secretary/Treasurer. She has a strong interest in the history and ecology of Southern Colorado, and has hiked and walked extensively in the area. She is also a gardener, home cook, and avid reader, and participates in a variety of community volunteer activities. Serving on the La Veta Trails board provides an opportunity to develop all of her interests, most especially building opportunities for community youth to become involved in physical and environmental activities in our community.
Celeste Melville
Celeste holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Networking from Regis University. She retired from Regis University after a 15-year career, most recently as Systems Administrator and Infrastructure and Operations Supervisor.
Celeste is also a Master Community Garden Leader through a program with Denver Urban Gardens and Colorado State University. In this role, she organized numerous projects for the Regis University Berkeley Neighborhood Community Garden, fostering food security and sustainable seed-to-table initiatives. Celeste’s spirit of volunteerism has also taken her abroad, as she joined the Glens Falls Medical Mission Trip to Guatemala in 2019. There, she worked in the reading glasses clinic, witnessing firsthand the profound impact of providing essential medical resources to underserved communities. Now retired in La Veta, Colorado, Celeste continues to explore new passions, recently teaching herself to play the ukulele and performing with a local Celtic band, The Orphans. Celeste enjoys hiking, lightweight backpacking, and plant and insect identification. She volunteered with La Veta Trails before moving to the area permanently and knew she had found her home. Celeste holds a Crosscut Sawyer A certification.
Mark White
Mark spent the first part of his career as a commercial Risk Manager for large corporations throughout the United States. The then started and ran an Investment Company where he spent the next 15 years building and buying commercial real estate with a focus on the restaurant industry.
He realized life should not be all about work and began to explore nature and spent the next several years traveling to mountains throughout the world before discovering La Veta, a place he knew instantly would be home. Combining his love for nature and his business acumen, he joined the La Veta Trails Board of Directors in the hope of creating a venue where he and others may share in the outdoor recreation pleasures of this remarkable area. Mark earned the Volunteer Outdoor Colorado Crew Leader Certificate, Volunteer Outdoor Colorado Crew Leader Trainer Certificate, and U.S. Forest Service Crosscut Saw Certificate “B” Sawyer.