Eagle River Fund to match donations for upcoming Edwards tire removal project

This post was originally published on VailDaily.com, and is available here.

The newly formed Eagle River Fund will match donations up to $5,000 made to the Edwards Tire Removal Project through Aug. 20 in a push to support a decades-in-the-making effort to remove tires from the Eagle River.

The funding marks one of the first awards from the Eagle River Fund, a locally driven initiative aimed at protecting waterways in the Eagle River Valley. The board of directors — chaired by Staunton Golding and including members Tom Gart and Scott Turnipseed — selected the project as an early example of how the fund intends to strengthen community-led water quality efforts.

Attempts to remove tires from the Eagle River in Edwards have been taking place for three decades, with the annual Eagle River Cleanup event tracing its history to one of those efforts.

Melanie Smith, operations manager for the fund who also serves as development director for the nonprofit Eagle River Coalition, said the model is based on other successful regional river funds, including one on the Yampa River.

“What we saw was entities of all kinds coming together to create their own secure, local funding source so that more could be done on the projects that the community values,” Smith said.

Launched following a feasibility study and recommendations from a working group comprising more than 40 members, the Eagle River Fund is working toward establishing a $5 million endowment that would provide over $200,000 annually for grants. Thanks to lead donors Margie and Tom Gart, the fund has already begun awarding grants while continuing to raise money.

“We have structured our gift to allow the fund to operate while we are fundraising,” Margie Gart said. “This serves as proof of concept for why a local, secure funding source makes such a difference.”

In addition to the fundraising effort, Smith said removing the tires will require quite a few volunteers. The project is scheduled for Aug. 20 and is one of two Eagle River cleanup opportunities being hosted by the Eagle River Coalition in the coming weeks, with the 31st annual Eagle River Cleanup set for Sept. 6.

Vicki Flynn, the Eagle River Coalition’s executive director, says the new Eagle River Fund will be a big help to the coalition and other groups taking on river restoration projects in Eagle County.

“The tire removal project is a great fit with our mission and dovetails with the longstanding Eagle River Cleanup taking place this fall,” Flynn said. “Not to mention, we get to work with HOAs and local governments, volunteers who have been passionate about this issue for decades, businesses that are donating their resources to the project and the donors who will make the project possible.”

The Eagle River Fund has also supported the development of the Eagle River Community Water Plan, which sets out strategies to protect the river’s health, and has matched funding for a “Beyond Lawn” demonstration garden at Riverwalk in Edwards that will cut water use by more than 80%.

The fund plans to open its first competitive grant cycle in early 2026, when nonprofits, local governments and other entities will be able to apply for matching funds to expand the reach of water projects.

Donations to the Edwards Tire Removal Project are tax-deductible and can be made online at Secure.qgiv.com/for/projectsupportedwardstireremoval. Gifts made through Aug. 20 will be matched by the Eagle River Fund.