Colorado State University and the Fort Collins community celebrate the 100th painting of the Aggie A with a fresh coat of paint. August 19, 2024

Front Range Region
Impact Highlights

Where University Meets Community

Across Colorado’s Front Range, CSU Extension specialists are serving their communities and addressing local needs by sharing expertise and resources, delivering educational programming, strengthening partnerships, and engaging youth and volunteers.

Key impact areas for Front Range specialists in 2025 spanned topics such as youth outreach, health promotion, food systems, natural resources, sustainable landscaping, agriculture, volunteer engagement, and more.

Two women smiling under a Larimer County Farmers’ Market tent, with a “Bee Kind” sign and other vendor booths in the background.

2025 Impact Highlights

95K+

Contacts reached by CSU Extension Specialists

Through consultations and presentations across the Front Range.

845

Master Gardener volunteers

Contributed over 38,000 volunteer hours in communities throughout the region.

35K+

Colorado 4-H youth reached

And over 2,100 4-H volunteers engaged in supporting youth leadership development.

ACROSS The Front Range Region

Small Acreage Management

CSU Extension Small Acreage Management Specialist for the Front Range, Karla Melgar, secured a $17,000 NextGen Ag grant from the Colorado Department of Agriculture to create a workshop series on how to start a successful farming business. Partners include: AgrAbility, FarmAble, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Denver Botanic Gardens, and the Food Systems Institute.

Other Small Acreage Management efforts across the Front Range included:

  • 56 site visits conducted during the growing season;
  • Delivered conservation workshops in partnership with NRCS, Farm Service Agency, Longmont-Boulder Valley and East Adams-Deer Trail conservation districts, Loveland Rotary, and Hispanic Women Farming project;
  • Expanded and updated land management resources available at sam.extension.colostate.edu.

Business Management & Food Systems

Food Systems Grant Funding & Project Updates:

  • Management of a $30 million USDA Ag Marketing Service grant across six Western states (CO, WY, MT, ID, OR, WA) with a focus on food and farm business development.
  • $2500 grant award from American Farmland Trust to support agrivoltaics outreach to Colorado producers.
  • Finalized outputs and products from a $350,000 WSARE research and education grant on meat value chain development.

Resources for Producers, Farmers and Ranchers:

County & Region Impact Stories

Featured Impacts

Explore featured Front Range Region stories published in the National Land-Grant Impacts Database:

aerial view of a garden landscape around a building
Aerial view of the Colorado State University Eagle County Extension office and Victory Garden in Eagle Colorado, July 26, 2021.

AirMap FAA Controlled Airspace autorization accepted for flight with confirmation number: ARML6JOPS0Q0

Horticulture

Sustainable Landscaping for Community Leaders Workshop Series

Boulder County

4 kids lay in a circle wearing 4-H branded clothes
Caption: Rocky Mountain Penstemon is a hardy, native plant with value for both landowners and beneficial insects (Photo by I. Shonle)

4-H & Youth

“4-H Budget Bites: Feed Yourself, Fuel Your Future” Workshop for Teens and Young Adults

Larimer County

Purple coneflowers with orange centers growing outdoors.
Caption: Rocky Mountain Penstemon is a hardy, native plant with value for both landowners and beneficial insects (Photo by I. Shonle)

Horticulture

Cultivating Colorado: Growing Native Plants in your Home Landscape

El Paso County

A pair of gloved hands works in the soil
Caption: Rocky Mountain Penstemon is a hardy, native plant with value for both landowners and beneficial insects (Photo by I. Shonle)

Agriculture

Soil Health Demo Day: Practical, On-Farm Soil Health Practices for Producers

Larimer County

Across the Region & in Your Community

CSU Extension In The Front Range