Common Outdoor Ground is a nonprofit organization that coordinates volunteer projects on public lands in southeast Wyoming. 

For years, community members in southeast Wyoming have been eager to volunteer their time to take care of open spaces.  Similarly, land managers (such as the U.S. Forest Service) want to welcome volunteers to help steward the land, but they often lack the resources or staff to coordinate volunteer efforts. COG helps bridge that gap. 

When land managers need extra hands for a project, COG helps provide volunteers and coordination. When a community group has a project they want to do, we coordinate the details with land managers to make volunteering seamless, safe, and productive.

Thanks to a standing agreement with the Laramie Ranger District we can easily conduct volunteer projects on Forest Service land.  We have also partnered with the City of Laramie, Pilot Hill, Wyoming Game and Fish, and other land managers on projects all over southeast Wyoming.

Our volunteer projects range from building trails, to enhancing wildlife habitat, to cleaning up trash and promoting responsible outdoor ethics. We work with community groups of all types — cyclists, angles, hikers, hunters, rock climbers, backcountry horsemen, and more — to enhance our public lands and expand opportunities for responsible outdoor recreation.

WHAT WE'VE ACHIEVED

Since its inception in 2018, COG has helped coordinate nearly 30 volunteer projects on public lands, partnering with the U.S. Forest Service, Pilot Hill, the City of Laramie, the University of Wyoming, Laramie BikeNet, Wyoming Pathways, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Southeast Wyoming Climbers Coalition, and other groups.

We’ve built and maintained trails, cleaned up trash, created and improved campsites, installed signage, enhanced wildlife migration routes, and monitored trail conditions.

Hundreds of volunteers have participated in our events, working more than 2,200 hours total. That labor is valued at more than $57,000!

WANT TO WORK TOGETHER?

If you need volunteers for a project on public lands in Southeast Wyoming, drop us a line at commonoutdoorground@gmail.com. 

Assuming the project is a good fit, we’ll work with you and the appropriate land managers to plan the event and wrangle volunteers. Partnering with COG is a great way to simplify project logistics; we can help with everything from handling liability concerns to supplying tools for volunteer days.

Please note:

• COG does not have regulatory authority. If your group wants to build a new trail, reroute an existing trail, or do some other project that needs approval from a government agency, you’d first need permission from that agency. COG can’t grant that permission or skirt government rules, but we’d be happy to talk with you and strategize about how to proceed.

• For projects on Forest Service land, COG will handle communications with the Laramie Ranger District. Please don’t reach out to the USFS separately; that will slow down the process.