Yampa Valley Crane Festival Logo

2014 Yampa Valley Crane Festival: Saturday

Saturday, September 13, 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 Saturday. Note that all events are free but a few events require advance registration due to limited space.

Saturday 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.

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Guided bird walk with Birding magazine editor and birder extraordinaire Ted Floyd at The Nature Conservancy’s Yampa River Preserve in Hayden.

9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Family activity day for crane enthusiasts of all ages. Activities will be held in Library Hall, the Storytime Room, and outside on the Library Lawn, including crane-related games, crafts, crane dancing, binocular skills, a crane-calling contest, educational displays and much more. Fun for the entire family.sponsored by Colorado Parks & Wildlife and Yampatika.

10 a.m. – Noon
Optics display on the Library Lawn presented by Leica and Mogils on the Mountain: Hands-on with the newest binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras.

11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's  “Birds in Art 2013” exhibit at the Steamboat Art Museum, 801 Lincoln Ave.

2 – 4 p.m.
Crane yard art display and silent auction on the Library Lawn.

3 – 4 p.m.
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Richard Beilfuss, President and CEO of the International Crane Foundation, presents “Cranes: Ambassadors for Conservation” in Library Hall.

About the speaker
Richard Beilfuss, Ph.D., is President and CEO of the International Crane Foundation. Beilfuss first joined ICF in 1988, conducting his graduate research on the restoration of important crane sites in Vietnam and Mozambique. From 1992-2005 he developed and directed the ICF Africa Program, spearheading long-term efforts to restore the water-stressed Zambezi River Basin for people and wildlife, and contributing to wetland conservation efforts and capacity building in more than a dozen African countries. From 2005-2009, Beilfuss lived with his family in Mozambique, where he served as Director of Scientific Services for Gorongosa National Park. He speaks Portuguese and Nepali.

Beilfuss is 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. He serves as a Senior Advisor to the World Wildlife Fund and an Affiliate of the Natural Heritage Institute on water issues, and is an Adjunct Professor for the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering and for the University of Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique, where he teaches courses and supervises students.

Beilfuss lives with his wife Katie, and their two sons, in Madison. He is an avid runner, wetland-stomper, and dart-thrower, but not all at the same time.


4:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Crane Festival Picnic at The Nature Conservancy’s Carpenter Ranch in Hayden
Routt County Cattlewomen's BBQ dinner (purchase) or BYO picnic, bird walk, and ranch house tour, followed by guided crane viewing. Registration required for shuttle to BBQ and crane viewing and/or purchase of BBQ dinner.

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.