Volume 4 Issue 2

The Beaver Bulletin
July, 2015
VOL. 4, Issue 2
Beaver Ponds Environmental Education Center (BPEEC) helps people of all ages
learn about domestic livestock, horticulture, green energy generation and
environmental conservation in a high-alpine, natural setting at Sacramento Creek
Ranch near Fairplay, Colorado.
Your Donation Goes Further This Year
• This year, you can
benefactor. We will use this
The program also helped the
stretch your donations to
money to purchase a
environment, by preventing
Beaver Ponds, because an
microfodder system,
almost 5,000 paper bags from
anonymous benefactor has
including seed for the fodder
being used.
offered to match donations
system, which will provide
dollar for dollar, up to
fresh grass for our animals
$25,000 this year.
year-round.
• A kind supporter, Nancy
• Beaver Ponds was the
C., donated $2,000, which
beneficiary of the Whole
was also matched by our
Foods bag donation credit,
anonymous, matching-dollar
which netted nearly $500.
• In addition, Whole Foods
donated past-prime vegetables
for the animals.
• Beaver Ponds still has a
number of funding needs. For
example, we want to complete
(continued on p. 2)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Meet Bob Trepany: Newest Board Member, p. 2
Kids’ Programs, & Kevin Completes Energy Program, p. 3
Alpacas and Goats Get Early Summer Haircuts, p. 5-6
Meet Our New Intern, p. 7
Bob Trepany: new board member
Tulane, Stanford and MIT.
“The value I bring to my job
has been my ability to find
empathy and solutions to
those I support,” Bob says. “I
adhere to these values
throughout my daily life and
feel that I can leverage my
Donations, cont.
our Passive Solar Energy
Education Classroom, which
would display key components
of our energy systems, by
adding glass walls, a tiled floor,
and other necessary items to
our first two garage bays.
• We’d also like to add a
For the last 35 years, Bob
experiences within the
scientific quality weather
Trepany has been working as a
framework established at
station and energy tracking
software and system engineer
Beaver Ponds. We all have
software to get a better handle
for Apple, Nortel and Digital
stewardship of this world and
on energy usage during
Equipment Corp. His focus:
need to educate and enlighten
various weather conditions.
supporting the needs of his
this next generation of
customers.
learners as to why this is of
His background includes four
years in the United States Air
value to them as we pass this
torch of learning to them.”
• In addition, we want to
offer trail improvements,
including an iPad app to
further explain our
Force, where he was an NSA
Bob’s wife, Stephanie Young
interpretative trails for kids
trained cryptologist. He holds
Trepany, is the director of
and adults.
degrees in psychology and
Microsoft’s worldwide
software engineering from
distribution. They have three
Northern Michigan University
daughters and a grandson.
and St. Petersburg College.
Mary is a junior at CU in
For six years, he taught various
programming languages at St.
Petersburg College, as an adjunct
professor.
During his tenure at Apple, he
attended several engineering
courses at University of
Washington, Northwestern,
Boulder, studying design and
art; Nancy is a senior at Rollins
College, studying business and
communications; and Lindsey
works in the healthcare
industry.
Bob’s interests include lifelong learning, skiing, sailing,
running, reading and physics.
• We are also looking for a
volunteer to offer his or her
time to help us write the app,
(used on iPads) for the
interpretive trail.
Kevin Hosman completes Colorado Energy Master’s
Executive Director Kevin Hosman recently
For his final project, Kevin performed an
completed the Colorado Energy Master’s
energy audit of the Beaver Ponds center of
Program.
operations and living quarters. In the
The program consisted of a series of
webinars and classroom sessions
beginning in February and concluding
with a final project presentation in May.
It covered topics ranging from coal and
natural gas production in Colorado to the
latest in alternative energy. The
presentations were fact based, and the
presenters were non-biased.
Kevin learned the status of energy
production and usage in both Colorado
and nationwide, along with the benefits
and drawbacks of current and alternative
energy methods. In addition to the
instruction periods, the class took field
trips to the Clean Energy Collective
Photovoltaic 500kW array in Aurora, CO
and the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory in Golden, CO.
process, he discovered that the geothermal
heat pump, along with the associated
circulation pumps, were accounting for
about two-thirds of the electricity usage at
the site.
Although the site uses very little electricity,
we are working to improve the efficiency
of the geothermal heat pump system and
to reduce its electricity consumption.
Contribute through
AmazonSmile
Beaver Ponds participates in the
AmazonSmile program. That
means you can support BPEEC
through your regular online
shopping at Amazon — at no
additional cost to you. With every
purchase, Amazon.com donates
0.05% of the total price.
Beaver Ponds teaches kids
We had a wonderful visit
from 32 Frisco Elementary
mint, chives and lettuce, and
smiling for the camera.
To participate, avoid logging
second-grade students, along
directly into your Amazon
with their teachers and a few
They especially liked the
account. Instead, log in through
parents on May 11.
rolling composter they could
AmazonSmile.com. The first time
you log into AmazonSmile, you
will be asked to select a charity.
In the pick your own charitable
organization search box, enter
Beaver Ponds. When you find
Beaver Ponds Environmental
Education Center in the list, press
spin, as well as the worm
They learned about beavers,
alternative energy, the greenhouse, the animals and
bins. The kids brought along
their awesome leaders, Rick
Salazar and Jenny Andrusin.
composting. Everyone had
fun, from all the kids and
The club returned on June 4
adults, to our dogs, and even
for a hike and interpretive
the alpacas.
tour. They wanted to “give
back,” so they returned June 5
the select button next to our
The Boys and Girls Club of
and helped with trail building.
name, and we’ll automatically
South Park visited Beaver
in the morning.
receive 0.05% of your purchase.
Ponds several times recently.
You can bookmark the site, so
every time you log in, you
automatically open
AmazonSmile, with Beaver Ponds
In May, they planted
vegetable seeds and learned
about plants, soil, composting,
vermiculture and our animals.
as the beneficiary. Thanks for
After planting, we spent time
your support!
in the greenhouse tasting
Alpacas and Goats Get Early Summer Haircuts
The goats, alpacas and
llamas were either
combed or sheared in
late May. The first to
have her fleece
removed was Viola, the
cashmere goat.
The fleece removal
involved a combination
of combing, clipping
and teasing Viola’s coat
Viola and Miranda, pre-comb. Photo credit: Walter Newton
cooperative as Viola, but
we managed to reduce
much of her outer coat.
Marny Pavelka, from
Sister Sheep, dressed up
our two angoras,
Jellybean and Kahale.
nicely.
On June 1, Scott
Dontanville, of New West
Shearing, arrived around
noon and sheared all of
the llamas and alpacas,
finishing by 2:30 p.m. It
was nice watching
professionals in action.
Thanks to everyone who
helped!
BELOW: Viola proudly shows off her
new “haircut.”
off.
Miranda was next up.
She wasn’t as willing or
Alpacas and Goats Get Haircuts: Photo Gallery
From left: Quantum and Radar pre-shear; and Quantum, Radar and Kaya post-shear.
From left: Miranda post-shear; Kahale pre-shear.
Below: Jellybean pre-shear, and Jellybean post-shear.
Beaver Ponds inspires intern Sophia Mershad
When Sophia Mershad first visited Beaver Ponds, it was through
Kristin Barrett’s Intro to Environmental Science class at Colorado
Mountain College.
“I was just in awe and asked, ‘How can I get involved?’” Sophia said.
“It was my dream place.”
The 21-year-old aspires toward sustainable farming and “trying to
share that mission with others and show that it is possible,” she
said.
When she saw the greenhouse, the animals and all the forms of
alternative energy in one place, she was amazed — she had never
seen anything like it.
Since she began her summer internship, she has taught kids from
the Boys and Girls Club about soil, sustainability and plant
identification; helped with the worm farm and beds outside the
greenhouse; and helped shear the alpacas and comb cashmere from
the goats. For the rest of the summer, she will continue to help,
about four days a week, wherever Eric and the crew needs a hand.
“It’s not a job for me; it’s a treat,” she said. “I look forward to getting up every morning I go to
Beaver Ponds.”
“I just really love everything Beaver Ponds stands for
… Now I really know what I want to do with my life
— I can actually see what I want to do with it.”
Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, her first “real” nature experience occurred when she was 16, as
a friend took her on a day hike at Lake Placid. She made it to the top of the mountain and said
to herself, “I’m going to live in the mountains for the rest of my life.” Three years ago, she
moved to Colorado (initially, Telluride). She moved to Breckenridge 18 months ago to pursue
her college degree while living in the mountains.
Working at Beaver Ponds has inspired her to live more consciously when it comes to
sustainability, from reducing waste, turning off unused lights and unplugging unused
electronics to watching what kind of food she eats. She’s also brought discussions about
sustainability into her family, which she had never done prior.
“I just really love everything Beaver Ponds stands for, and I think it has a lot of potential to
show people a more sustainable way to live,” she said. “It’s an amazing and rewarding
experience, and I feel privileged. Now I really know what I want to do with my life — I can
actually see what I want to do with it.”