About
CAIC and FoCAIC Partnership
The relationship between the CAIC and the Friends of CAIC is an important public-private partnership. It provides backcountry avalanche forecasts for everyone in Colorado, as well as avalanche education for as many people as we can reach.
The partnership allows FoCAIC staff to attend events, write grants, and build partnerships on behalf of the mission. And it keeps CAIC staff in the snow, so they can provide the best avalanche forecasts possible for you, the user.
The Friends of CAIC
The FoCAIC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created to financially support avalanche forecasting and education throughout Colorado. It does this through fundraising that includes grant writing, events, individual giving, corporate partnerships, and an annual spring campaign.
The FoCAIC has five full-time staff members who work from home offices and from the road throughout the winter. It also has a small Board of Directors that guides the mission of the organization and oversees the Executive Director. The FoCAIC is the private side of the partnership.
How Forecasting Is Funded
The CAIC’s backcountry forecasting operations are funded through several avenues: the Severance Tax Fund, a partnership with the United States Forest Service, fees for providing avalanche training to professional groups, and the fundraising efforts of the Friends of CAIC.
That support allows for a more robust backcountry forecasting and education program here in Colorado. The current program could not have been built with tax dollars alone. We need a strong public-private partnership to sustain it, and to improve it in future.