By Jeff Sparhawk
If I had a dime for every time a backcountry SAR volunteer told me they wished they had my job…well, then CSAR’s board of directors and Fundraising Program volunteers wouldn’t have to work so hard right now.
The thing is, my job isn’t what so many BSAR responders seem to think. I’m not flying around in helicopters all day. I’m not in the wilderness, saving lives. I’m not exploring the backcountry or planning training scenarios. These days, I don’t even have much time to train or respond with my teams. I do the work nobody wants to do, so that you all can do the work you love to do.
Due to the unique nature of CSAR, my duties are more like a CEO of a corporation than a leader of a backcountry SAR (BSAR) team. Most of the time, I’m sitting at my desk in my home office on remote meetings or working on documents and spreadsheets. Sometimes I get to go meet people in person, and if I’m lucky I can convince them to join my dog and me for a hike’n’chat. It’s not the kind of work most of us dream of when we join BSAR teams. It’s far removed from the hands-on adrenaline-fueled response work that attracts most of our volunteer responders. However, it’s the work I need to be doing to ensure the sustainability of the Colorado BSAR system long into the future. It’s the often unfun, must-get-done work that enables all of the volunteer responders to make a difference.
I generally work every day, whether weekdays or weekends. Here’s a sample day in my life.
6:00 am – In an attempt to control my time, what’s on my calendars? What are my priorities for today? I check my inboxes to ensure something major hasn’t come in overnight. I often get hundreds of emails, texts, and other messages a day, and since so many of them are from BSAR team leaders and responders asking for help and advice, I try my best to keep up.
8:00 am – Meetings are usually starting by now. Sometimes I need to run my son to school, but I can usually start the meetings on the phone in the truck on the way home. These might be meetings with volunteer responders or CSAR’s program members before they start their work day. I might be meeting with an executive director from another nonprofit who is looking for collaboration opportunities, or I might be meeting with Colorado state agency officials, directors from CSAR’s board, the media, potential donors or supporters.
10:00 am – After my first few meetings, I often find some time to devote to priorities and might be turning off notifications to allow me to focus. Currently, our priority projects are drafting a business plan for CSAR, directing CSAR’s fundraising efforts, and supporting the CSAR State BSAR Coordinator Program as they bring on new coordinators and prepare for the summer busy season. I often find myself doing research (legal or otherwise) and revising documents for sponsorship agreements or funding proposals, reviewing a new policy or contract, planning a presentation, or assisting a BSAR team with a document review. CSAR’s strategic visioning and planning process last year has been a great help in aligning my time with our strategic priorities.
1:00 pm – I’m probably on the phone with a CSAR stakeholder from one of our “business hours only” partners. Many afternoons are derailed. Something nearly always comes up to knock me off my original plan, and that’s OK. I need to be responsive and flexible. Maybe a team leader or sheriff calls with an urgent issue or a program manager is up against a timeline and needs advice. Maybe I need to run to Denver, or a CSAR director calls with a priority outreach request for a donor or sheriff. My days are always filled with the need to balance the important with the urgent. I try to always be vigilant, day and night, to the requests of the CSAR State BSAR Coordinator Program. Our world class coordinators only rarely need my input, but I try to monitor every call to ensure we’re always considering all aspects of responder safety.
3:00 pm – More meetings or maybe I can find a few minutes to think deeply about policy, read something or listen to a book or podcast. [If you’re interested in history and policy related to BSAR, check out Vacationland by Philpott.] Thankfully, I’ve found some geeky trucker headsets that provide 20+ hours of talk time, which allows me to move around a bit. Maybe I can get out for some exercise or some quality time with my son, but often I cannot.
5:00 pm – As my day winds down with the business hours folks, the second “half” of my day starts with the volunteer responders. As a lifetime volunteer, I believe strongly that CSAR needs to serve the volunteer responders when they have time. Almost every evening there are team meetings, board meetings, membership meetings, etc. If possible, I’d much rather meet with teams or committees during their standard meetings.
9:00 pm – Time to try and catch up on the emails again. Unless the state coordinators are running a call, I might get a few more hours in.
Usually when I describe my typical day to a BSAR volunteer, they’re quick to change their minds about wanting my job. I don’t blame them. But I want our members and supporters to understand how important it is for someone to have their eye on the bigger picture and our future. Just as all of the leaders and managers on the BSAR teams diligently enable and support the BSAR responders and public educators, CSAR works to enable and support our member BSAR organizations. My days are spent working on matters such as policy, fundraising, legal, relationships, leadership, legislative, and supporting the holistic health of our BSAR responders.
One of the most important things I have done since being in a leadership role with CSAR is to spearhead our legislative efforts in 2020 – 2022 to find statewide funding sources for teams, provide civil protections for volunteer responders, and mandate funding for mental health resources. More work needs to be done here, but it was a very good start. CSAR is now turning its focus to ensure its own financial viability and sustainability.
I’m running a corporation that has ten essential programs, 70 incredibly valuable volunteer program members, and eight directors who lead with their hearts and minds. All of us support roughly 2500 volunteer BSAR responders plus sheriff’s offices, state agencies, land managers, and related nonprofits. It’s a lot to juggle, and one of the needs our new business plan will outline is for more staff in the future to support our objectives. If you’re one of the few people who really does want my job, even after reading this and understanding what I do, then you may be one of the people I hope we can someday bring on board as a staff member.
CSAR stands at the intersection of business, government, nonprofit, volunteers, emergency response, and serving Colorado’s backcountry public. Every day, I have the great honor of serving this incredible community.