About - FDRD - Friends of the Dillon Ranger District

Your Donation to FDRD supports the local forest!

Friends of the Dillon Ranger District (FDRD) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that, with the help of volunteers, ensures that our National Forest is not negatively impacted by its immense popularity.

With more than 60 volunteer projects on our National Forest each year, FDRD volunteers contribute thousands of hours maintaining and improving trails, planting trees, pulling invasive weeds, educating visitors, and much more. FDRD is one of the most active, locally-based outdoor stewardship organizations in the country and by volunteering with FDRD or supporting us with a financial contribution, you benefit the National Forest that makes Summit County a world-class destination.

Staff & Board

Goals/Accomplishments

FDRD Team Best of Summit

Meet the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District Team

Michael ConnollyExecutive Director

Mike moved to Summit County fifteen years ago and started volunteering with FDRD as a Ranger Patroller shortly thereafter. He joined the FDRD Board in 2012 and stepped into the role as FDRD Executive Director during the 2014 summer season. Mike is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College. After working in the corporate world on the east coast he is thrilled to now call Summit County his home. In the past, he has been a volunteer firefighter, Jr Achievement and girl scout leader, and United Way organizer. He is a member of the Summit County Rotary Club and has been active with Mountain Mentors, Summit Social Services as a foster parent, the Summit and Breckenridge Chambers, and with various other county volunteer groups. He is an avid hiker, camper, mountain biker, downhill and backcountry skier, and sailor.

Doozie MartinPrograms Manager

Doozie, who grew up in Kansas City, followed his Midwest roots to graduate school at the University of Missouri. Upon the completion of the program, he followed his love of the forest and the mountains to the high country of Summit County where he stumbled upon Friends of the Dillon Ranger District. He’s now entering his ninth season of forest stewardship with the strong volunteer community that resides in Summit County. When he’s not rubbing shoulders with volunteers in this devoted mountain community, he can be found hiking with his dog, Titus, riding his bike, camping in the woods and strummin’ on his ol’ 6-string. He hopes to make your acquaintance on an upcoming forest health project on a trail near you!

Jen VoglerMarketing & Events Manager

Jen joins the FDRD team excited to immerse herself in all that Summit County has to offer. She recently moved up from Denver, having worked the past several years in nonprofit marketing and development roles. Originally an east coast transplant, Jen graduated from the University of Vermont and spent the first decade of her career working clinically as a physical therapist. In her free time she found herself volunteering with nonprofits and eventually decided to make a career jump. Jen completed an Executive MBA program with UC Denver in 2019 and has found herself at home working in the nonprofit sector. Outside of the office you’ll catch Jen behind her camera, hiking, snowboarding and trail running alongside her husband Chad and pup Tucker.

Olivia AndreozziEducation & Youth Programs Manager

Olivia is originally from Rhode Island and grew up hiking and skiing around northern New England. After graduating from The University of Vermont in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studiesy, Olivia moved to Summit County to ski patrol which she did for four winters at Copper Mountain. In the summer after moving out west Olivia worked as a naturalist and environmental educator in Aspen and was incredibly inspired to impassion youth about preserving the places we play and being stewards of the land. Olivia’s passion for mountain biking has fueled her interest in giving back to the trails and ecosystems of Summit County. She currently volunteers with the Summity County Rescue Group. When she’s not on a trail project you can find her on the trails mountain biking, backcountry skiing or frolicking while IDing wildflowers.

Lizzie MorrisonPrograms Coordinator

Lizzie is returning for her fourth trail season with FDRD. She transplanted to Colorado from the Midwest about 7 years ago. After graduating from college with a degree in Environmental Science, she looked west for outdoor conservation work. Her trail background comes from participating and leading trail crews with the Student Conservation Association and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps. She is inspired by FDRD volunteers and their dedication to giving back to their local forest. When she is not busy organizing volunteer projects and wearing her hard hat, she can be found outside biking, hiking, and skiing with her partner and powder hound Cheezy. In the winter, you can find her teaching people to glide on skinny skis at the Frisco Nordic Center. Lizzie is looking forward to digging in a borrow pit with you at one of our trail projects this summer! Happy trails!

Emily LindYouth Programs Coordinator

Emily is from Pennsylvania but has found herself in Summit County the past three winter seasons and has now officially decided to make Summit County her home. She graduated from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania in 2019 with a degree in Outdoor Recreation Management. Since graduation, Emily has worked in the ropes course industry in Maine and in the winters a snowboard instructor here in Summit County. Her passion for working with youth and inspiring our future generations to be stewards of the outdoors is how she found FDRD. She is stoked to join the team! In her free time, you can find her rock climbing, behind the camera, or snowboarding!

Abby WinelandEvents + Volunteer Coordinator

Abby is a Summit County local who grew up skiing, hiking, and biking on the beautiful trails of the high country. She currently attends the University of Denver and is studying to earn her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Media and Marketing. Abby is the newest member of our team as of this summer and is excited to see what she can bring to FDRD. With an interest in social media and advertising, she wants to help expand the nonprofit’s presence online, bringing a larger awareness to our mission and values as an organization. She enjoys working alongside fellow stewards of the forest who share in her passion and love for volunteering, educating, and giving back to the community. Abby attributes her knowledge of trail maintenance, water use, and conservation to both her work with the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps and Troy Wineland, the Summit County Water Commissioner (and her dad!)

The FDRD Board

Jim BorgelBoard President

Corporate Attorney at Holland & Hart

Brian BlankenmeisterTreasurer

Senior Vice President at Alpine Bank

Charlotte ClarkeSecretary

Retired College Professor

Brad Piehl

Watershed Planner at JW Associates

Amy Kemp

Founder of CampSight, a Digital Marketing Firm

Christine Zenel

Resource Specialist at Summit County Open Space & Trails

Rapid Cartelli

Professor of Business at Colorado Mtn. College

Kip McCarthy

Senior Manager of Health & Safety at Breckenridge Ski Resort

Elaine Collins

Dedicated Volunteer

Jeff Grasser

Sustainability Operations Manager at Copper Mountain

Eric Erslev

Retired Geology Professor

FDRD Mission

Friends of the Dillon Ranger District (FDRD)’s Mission is to partner with the White River National Forest’s Dillon Ranger District in Summit County to provide opportunities for the community to play a more active role in the sustainable management of the local forest and to enhance the experiences of all who recreate here by:

Conducting high quality projects to build and maintain trails, plant new trees, promote watershed restoration and perform other services to sustain the Dillon Ranger District
Developing and maintaining collaborative partnerships between the Forest Service and a diverse group of local organizations, stakeholders, individuals and users of the National Forest land
Creating excellent educational programs for our visitors, residents and youth to promote, protect and preserve our National Forest

History of FDRD

Friends of the Dillon Ranger District (FDRD) began in 2005 as a group of local community members who wanted to collaborate with the US Forest Service, Dillon Ranger District (DRD), to play a more active role in the sustainable management of our local National Forest. At the time, Ken Waugh was the District Recreation Staff Officer for the DRD. He also recognized the need for the Forest Service to make some “friends” and the inception of FDRD became his mission. In the past 15 years, the organization has grown to a four-person, full time, year-round staff, with two summer seasonals and over 1,000 dedicated volunteers. Our programs have grown steadily in response to a high level of demand for organized, effective outdoor stewardship projects, as well as the growing popularity of recreation in Summit County. FDRD was recognized as the US Forest Service’s National “Volunteer Program of the Year” in 2010 and won 2nd Place in the Summit Daily News’ Best of Summit competition for Best Nonprofit in 2019.

Here is a list of the awards received by FDRD –

Caring for the Land Stewardship Award
Summit Foundation Outstanding Community Organization Award
Continental Divide Trail Alliance Partner of the Year
Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado Partner Organization of the Year
USDA Forest Service Sponsored Group of the Year Award
The SHIFT Youth Stewardship Award
Best of Summit County Award

Summer 2021 Accomplishments

Volunteer Hours

Bags of Trash Collected

Feet of Trail Maintained

Number of Youth Volunteers

Shop to Support FDRD

Buy a map at the Dillon Ranger District and support FDRD!
Location: 680 Blue River Parkway, Silverthorne, CO 80498
Phone: (970) 468-5400
Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm (closed 12:30pm – 1:00pm for lunch)

Items for Sale

Maps
Hiking Guides
Naturalist Pocket Guides
OHV Guides
Local History Books
Children’s Books
Animal Puppets
FDRD t-shirts
FDRD hats
FDRD pint glasses

Educational Resources

Recreation Opportunity Guides (ROG) – a printed, one page guide for each individual trail in the Dillon Ranger District, complete with directions to the trailhead, trail highlights, topographic map and elevation profile
- - ROGs can also be found on the Trails & Hiking page
Local tourism brochures & magazines
Local wildlife displays
Knowledgeable front desk staff

Seasonal Permits for sale by the Dillon Ranger District (these do not benefit FDRD)

OHV/Snowmobile permits
Firewood cutting permits
Christmas tree cutting permits
Special Use Permits

Our Goals & Accomplishments

Our organization’s goals include:

Improving trail conditions on the National Forest in Summit County by engaging a diverse range of community members and other stakeholders in outdoor stewardship projects.
Providing a consistent volunteer outreach and monitoring presence on the National Forest in Summit County by engaging individual volunteers as part of FDRD’s Ranger Patrol program.
Providing a continuum of service learning opportunities for youth ages 6-18. Increased engagement of local, and visiting, youth remains a primary goal for FDRD in the years to come.

Improving natural resource conditions by engaging partners and community volunteers in a variety of volunteer service projects including ecological restoration and trail maintenance.
Seeking business and organization “field partners” to not only participate in field projects but also to help recruit additional sub-population of volunteers.
Educating the public about issues facing the National Forest, by providing and facilitating educational presentations, outreach opportunities, and interpretive hikes throughout the year.