Since 1982, Uncompahgre Valley Alliance members have worked for a healthy and sustainable community in Montrose County. Through grassroots organizing, Uncompahgre Valley Alliance has successfully campaigned on social and economic justice, environmental stewardship, local food production and more.
"Democracy begins in human conversation."
— William Greider, Journalist
UVA is committed to intentionally and systematically working through the Organizing Cycle as a way to develop current leaders and identify new leaders. Central to the Organizing Cycle is actively engaging in hundreds of conversations to identify local issues that can be worked through to public action that will create concrete and positive changes for the whole of Montrose.
Accomplishments
- Beginning in Summer 2022, active UVA members and interested parties learned about a new tactic called Deep Listening, which is a way to engage with community members who are traditionally not heard. By mid fall, a group of dedicated volunteers led a bilingual effort throughout the City of Montrose and Olathe, knocking 584 doors total talking with 127 residents! What was learned during this effort has laid the foundation for future UVA work, as well as energizing the affiliate with new membership and leadership.
- From 2019 to 2020 UVA facilitated more than 200 conversations. By capturing the concerns of community members, the group identified the need for greater access to affordable childcare. UVA members and friends formed a Childcare Caucus to identify an issue that UVA could take to public action. In partnership with Bright Futures for Early Childhood and Families, UVA secured funding from the City to put out a Montrose County Child Care Needs Assessment. Read about UVA’s successful assessment here!
- Members continue to join the regional campaigns of Western Colorado Alliance including public lands conservation, local food and agriculture, West Slope Youth Vote, oil and gas reform, clean and renewable energy and a variety of on-going grassroots democracy issues.
- In 2017, Uncompahgre Valley Alliance members launched a campaign to elevate the region’s clean energy economy. They were successful in getting C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy), a financial assistance program through the state of Colorado, passed in Montrose County.
- Uncompahgre Valley Alliance members started to tackle growth issues in 1994 when they successfully amended the County Zoning Resolution to improve the commissioners’ ability to regulate land use. Since then, members have worked on the proliferation of gravel pits and attempted to limit the size of “big box” retailers within the city limits.
- Uncompahgre Valley Alliance formed in 1982 and over the years has been involved in some of Western Colorado Alliance's toughest campaigns — from forcing the clean-up of Louisiana Pacific’s waferboard plant in Olathe to stopping plans for a low-level radioactive waste dump in the West End of Montrose County. Uncompahgre Valley Alliance members were also a driving force behind our Alliance's annual Sustainable Living Fairs held in the mid-1990s.