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2014 Yampa Valley Crane Festival: Monday

Monday, September 15, 2014 - 12:00am
  • Community-wide

The third annual Yampa Valley Crane Festival takes place September 12-15, 2014 in Steamboat Springs and Hayden. It includes four days of free events and the Bud Werner Memorial Library is festival headquarters.

The detailed 2014 Yampa Valley Crane Festival schedule is available here. Below is a quick guide to festival events for Monday. Note that all events are free but a few events require advance registration due to limited space.

Monday at the Yampa Valley Crane Festival:
6:15 a.m.
Sunrise crane viewing. Shuttle departs at 5:45 a.m. Registration required for shuttle. Suggested donation $5/person.

9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
“Coffee, Cranes, Conservation and Conversation.” An informal dutch treat coffee talk with International Crane Foundation President and CEO Richard Beilfuss in the back room at Egg & I, 325 Anglers Dr.

10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's  “Birds in Art 2013” exhibit at the Steamboat Art Museum, 801 Lincoln Ave.

10:30 a.m.
Crane-themed Little Crafters Storytime (for kids age 2-5 with a parent or caregiver) with Children’s Librarian Sarah Kostin in the Storytime Room.

Noon – 1:30 p.m.
"Water Usage and Crane Habitat": a roundtable discussion in Library Hall. Learn about the impacts of a changing water world on cranes in the Yampa Valley, the San Luis Valley, and other areas around the world. The discussion will be moderated by U.S. Forest Service Hydrologist Liz Schnackenberg. Featured panelists: Richard Beilfuss, President and CEO of the International Crane Foundation and a leader in the emerging field of environmental flows, which focuses on managing water flows to sustain rivers, wetlands, and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on these ecosystems; Geoff Blakeslee, The Nature Conservancy’s Yampa River Project Director and six-year member of the Colorado Water Conservation Board; and Scott Miller, Wildlife Biologist for the San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuges (a major staging area for the Rocky Mountain Population of Greater Sandhill Cranes). Bring your questions and your lunch.

1:45 – 2:30 p.m.
Talk and film about highly endangered Whooping Cranes with retired elementary school teacher turned naturalist and author Evelyn Horn in Library Hall.

6 – 8:15 p.m.
Sunset crane viewing. Shuttle departs at 6 p.m. Registration required for shuttle. Suggested donation $5/person.

About the Yampa Valley Crane Festival
The Greater Sandhill Crane is an iconic species of the Yampa Valley. Returning in the spring, cranes nest and raise their young in wetland areas throughout the valley. In late summer and early fall, hundreds of cranes from the Rocky Mountain flock join the local birds to rest and feed before continuing their journey south. The festival includes daily crane viewings, expert speakers, films, art exhibits, workshops, family activities and more. All community activities and events are free unless otherwise indicated in the program, and the Bud Werner Memorial Library will be home base for many of these talks, films and events.

Learn more about the festival at www.coloradocranes.org.