For Friends of the Yampa executive director Katie Berning, the spark came during a Conservation Lands Foundation grassroots summit, where she encountered a handmade publication celebrating landscapes of the Colorado Plateau. The project lingered in her mind.

"I was a part of a literary magazine in high school and created a number of zines in college," Katie says. "I've always loved the Yampa. It was kind of a lifetime of being a nerdy art and poetry kid coming together with this love of the river."

The idea sat on her two-year plan until the right opportunity appeared: a Conservation Lands Foundation grant designed to amplify women's voices in conservation. Suddenly, the vision became possible.

What emerged was far more than a publication. “The Wild Yampa” became a community art project that invited people across Northwest Colorado to tell the story of the river through poetry, essays, illustrations, photography and personal reflection.

When submissions began arriving, Katie realized they had tapped into something much bigger than expected.

"The sheer number of women who submitted was awesome," she says. "Everything that was submitted was way better than I was expecting."

The response forced the team to rethink the project. Originally envisioned as a smaller zine, the publication grew to accommodate more than 50 contributors. Going over budget felt like an easy decision when faced with such a wealth of creative work.

Designer Jill Bergman remembers the challenge not as finding enough material, but figuring out how to fit it all together.

"We had an open call for artists and writers and received so many wonderful pieces," Jill says. "We originally intended to make the zine smaller, but decided to make it larger to hold more work."

She shaped the publication to mirror the river itself, guiding readers from the Yampa's headwaters through changing ecosystems to its confluence with the Green River.

"The Yampa goes through different ecosystems and has different characteristics depending on where you are along the 250-mile length of the river," Jill says. "Following it downstream through the book made the most sense."

But the project wasn't confined to the printed page.

Community art nights in Craig and Steamboat Springs brought together dozens of participants of all ages, while volunteers later gathered for sewing days to hand-stitch the finished books. An artist reception celebrated the completed project, but perhaps more importantly, the relationships formed along the way.

"I'm most proud of creating all of these events or spaces for people to gather," Katie says. "It showed me that there's this whole audience of people that are ready to be stewards, ready to be passionate about the river."

Jill shares that sentiment.

"I'm proud of how we formed a community of artists, authors and folks in Routt and Moffat counties who had a great time making art about the Yampa," she says. "Many people I already knew, but some I met through this process, and they are already friends."

For both women, the project was never simply about making art. It was about creating another pathway into conservation.

In a year marked by wildfire smoke and ongoing drought, Katie says environmental challenges can feel overwhelming when presented only through statistics and scientific reports.

"Sometimes it can be really doom and gloom to just look at facts," she says. "But when you have someone telling their personal story, I think it inspires more passion and drive to want to protect this beautiful river."

Art, she believes, makes conservation personal. A poem, a painting or an illustration can forge an emotional connection that facts alone often cannot.

One submission that particularly stayed with her blended scientific observation with artistic beauty – a detailed illustrated "looky-loo" project mapping Yampa Canyon while highlighting its wildlife.

"When you can take science and hide it in a beautiful art piece, people get that learning aspect from it, but it's also really pretty to look at," Katie says.

That blend of creativity and stewardship is exactly what Jill hopes readers carry with them after turning the final page.

"I hope the collection of work brings to mind their own favorite places along the Yampa or other rivers," she says. "It helped me realize that these places are important to people for very different reasons based on their own experiences."

No matter the reason, Jill hopes readers feel inspired "to speak up and get involved in protecting our rivers and public lands – and get out to enjoy these places."

The physical object itself also matters.

Every copy of “The Wild Yampa” is hand-stitched, a reminder that many hands came together to create it. Katie doesn't hope readers keep their copies pristine.

"I hope they end up with tattered covers and bent pages because people are paging through them so much," she says.

Since its release, the response has validated the project's original vision. Readers have appreciated having a tangible piece to hold, while contributors have taken pride in seeing their work brought together in a beautifully crafted publication.

For Jill, the finished zine represents more than careful design and thoughtful layout.

"I'm super proud of how the zine looks," she says. "The wonderful content by our artists and authors, the beautiful printing, and the way it evolves as the river heads downstream through the pages."

Like the Yampa itself, “The Wild Yampa” carries many voices. Together, they remind readers that protecting a river begins not only with understanding it, but with loving it.

“The Wild Yampa” was created by Friends of the Yampa with funding from the Conservation Lands Foundation's Arts Advocacy Program. To learn more about the project, explore the full digital zine, or get involved, visit https://friendsoftheyampa.com/clf-arts-advocacy/.