Bud Werner Memorial Library

John Fielder celebrates the 20th anniversary of Great Outdoors Colorado with the publication of two new books highlighting the special places around the state in which Colorado's lottery funds have been invested.

Join the award-winning photographer for a free community slide show and talk to introduce his new guide book, Guide to Colorado’s Great Outdoors: Lottery-Funded Parks, Trails, Wildlife Areas & Open Spaces, and a picture book, Colorado's Great Outdoors: Celebrating 20 Years of Lottery-Funded Lands.

Fielder is touring around Colorado to share his photography and recount his impressions of GOCO’s accomplishments. The evening features the land conservation successes of Yampa Valley Land Trust and their work around Northwest Colorado in a slide show entitled "Colorado's Great Outdoors: Celebrating 20 Years of Lottery-Funded Lands," with beautiful music married to the images.

Fielder's Steamboat Springs talk will be a benefit for Yampa Valley Land Trust, which is also celebrating its 20th anniversary. The program will include photographs and commentary about YVLT’s land protection accomplishments in Northwest Colorado, including Rossi family efforts to pass their ranches along to future generations intact. 30% of all book sales from the evening will benefit Yampa Valley Land Trust

About the projects

GOCO partnered with Fielder to photograph hundreds of county and city open spaces; wildlife habitat; state parks and wildlife areas; local and regional trails; community parks, ball fields, and playgrounds; and private ranches. He drove 35,000 miles in less than two years from one end of Colorado to the other, and visited all of the state’s 64 counties and practically every city and town, in order to complete the project. The many working ranches depicted have benefited from GOCO grants because of the significant wildlife habitat they provide. They are not accessible to the public, but instead remain in private ownership. This will be the first time many people have been able to see these lands.

About GOCO
Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) was created in 1992 when Colorado voters directed a portion of Lottery proceeds towards Colorado’s wildlife, parks, rivers, trails and open spaces. Great Outdoors Colorado’s mission is to help preserve, protect, enhance, and manage the state’s wildlife, park, river, trail, and open space heritage. Additionally, GOCO makes annual investments in Colorado’s wildlife and state parks via the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife. To date, GOCO has committed more than $715 million in Lottery proceeds for nearly 3,500 projects in all 64 counties throughout the state

About John Fielder
John Fielder was a founder of GOCO, and was appointed by Governor Roy Romer to the Great Outdoors Colorado Board in 1993, and served two four year terms. He has worked tirelessly to promote the protection of Colorado’s ranches, open spaces, and wildlands during his 30-year career as a nature photographer. His photography has influenced people and legislation, earning him recognition including the Sierra Club’s Ansel Adams Award in 1993 and, in 2011, the Aldo Leopold Foundation’s first Achievement Award given to an individual. Over 40 books have been published depicting his Colorado photography. Fielder lives in Summit County, Colorado, and operates a fine art gallery, John Fielder’s Colorado, in Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe. He teaches photography workshops to adults and children. Information about John and his work can be found at  johnfielder.com.

About Yampa Valley Land Trust
Yampa Valley Land Trust is is dedicated to the conservation of natural, scenic, agricultural, historic and other public and private open land resources in Northwest Colorado, including but not limited to Routt, Moffat, Jackson and Rio Blanco Counties - with a focus on the Upper Yampa River Basin in Routt County and Upper White River Basin in Rio Blanco County - for the benefit of this and future generations.