Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition

Presenters of the Yampa Valley Crane Festival

2013 Crane Festival – Brief Summary

2013 Festival Activities

  • Guided sunrise and sunset crane viewing sessions
  • Crane Coloring Contest Award Ceremony
  • Educational displays about cranes and their habitat on display in the entry to Library Hall at the Bud Werner Memorial Library, 1289 Lincoln Avenue
  • Guided bird walk at the Yampa River Botanic Park
  • Steamboat Springs’ First Friday Art Walk, featuring the opening reception for a special Crane Art Show at the Depot
  • Crane art display at Wild Goose Coffee at the Granary located at 198 E. Lincoln Avenue in Hayden
  • Family activity day with games, crafts, stories, dancing and more for children and families at the Library
  • Crane Photo booth – photos with our crane mascot
  • Optics display on the Library Lawn
  • Learn how to paint a crane at Splatz Canvas and Wine
  • Gondola ride and a guided nature/bird walk on the Steamboat Ski Area
  • Picnic at The Nature Conservancy’s historic Carpenter Ranch in Hayden
  • Quick Draw art event at the magical sunset hour
  • Crane art on display at multiple Steamboat Springs art galleries
  • Sketch-A-Crane workshop with plein air artist Joan Hoffmann
  • Guided Birding by Pontoon Boat at Stagecoach State Park
  • En Plein Air Painting Workshop with Joan Hoffmann
  • Crane Storytime for youngsters at the Library

2013 Festival Speakers

  • Keynote speaker, internationally renowned nature and conservation photographer, Michael Forsberg presented a very moving and inspirational talk  “From Cranes to Plains – A Photographer’s Journey Connecting the Heart of a Continent.”
  • Rod Drewien, avian researcher and leading expert on the Rocky Mountain population of Greater Sandhill Cranes, gave an update on the status of this population of cranes.
  • Robert Skorkowsky, Rocky Mountain Region Avian Program Coordinator with the U.S. Forest Service, presented a program on the White-naped Crane conservation project in Mongolia that he worked on in conjunction with the International Crane Foundation. This project was spawned by a chance meeting at the 2012 Yampa Valley Crane Festival between Skorkowsky and ICF co-founder George Archibald.
  • Plein air painter Joan Hoffman presented a reading, slide show, and roundtable discussion on “The Art of Birding” based upon her recent Audubon Society Hog Island fellowship.
  • Wildlife photographer, conservationist, and keynote speaker, Michael Forsberg held an informal coffee talk and question and answer session at Wild Goose Coffee at the Granary in Hayden about photographing wildlife.

2013 Festival Films

  • Cranes of the Rockies – Filmmaker Michael Bennett introduced his film and answered questions from the audience.
  • Raising Kid Colt – A film by Nina Faust from Kachemak Crane Watch about a young Sandhill Crane, following the adventures of the young colt and his parents over two summers in Alaska.

2013 Festival Sponsors and Partners

Abby Jensen Photography, BookTrails/Off the Beaten Path Bookstore, Bud Werner Memorial Library, Ciao Gelato, City of Steamboat Springs, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Conservation Colorado, Council of the Humane Society of the U.S., Gerhard Assenmacher Photography, Klauzer & Tremaine, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation, Steamboat Springs Arts Council, The Nature Conservancy, Tom Thurston at Stagecoach Marina, U.S. Forest Service, Yampa Valley Birding Club, Yampa Valley Land Trust, Yampatika

The second annual Yampa Valley Crane Festival was held September 6-9, 2013.