The Middle Colorado Watershed Council (MCWC) is hosting the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, bringing inspiring, beautiful movies to the region for two nights this month. The first showing is on Thursday, Feb. 21, at the Glenwood Vaudeville Revue, and the second is on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Rifle’s Ute Theater.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is one of the nation’s premier environmental and adventure film festivals, featuring beautiful cinematography and incredible storytelling aimed to inform and inspire. Many of the films win awards at an international level and focus on a wide range of topics, such as conservation, adventure, agriculture, water, wildlife and indigenous cultures.

Here are a few of the 10 films curated for the 2019 event:

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“Great Basin Water is Life”: The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is proposing to install a 300-mile pipeline from eastern and central Nevada to enhance Las Vegas’ already limited groundwater supply. If constructed, the pipeline would transport 177,995 acre-feet of water (58 billion gallons) each year from rural Nevada to Las Vegas. “Great Basin Water Is Life” shows there is no extra water for SNWA’s 84-inch, 300-mile, $15.5 billion pipeline project.

“Adventure Not War”: U.S. veterans Stacey Bare, Robin Brown and Matthew Griffin travel back into the mountains of Iraq on a mission to heal wounds and experience the country and its culture without the shadow of war. “Adventure Not War” reveals a seldom seen beautiful underbelly in a place of devastation and creates space for healing wounds deeper than flesh and bones.

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“Blue”: Fresh off training wheels, a 4-year-old growing up in Valdez, Alaska, begins to push her boundaries and explore what’s possible on her bike, her eyes naturally drifting to the mountains. We dive into the world of her fantasy and explore the mountains, glaciers and rivers of Valdez by fat bike with a crew of boundary-pushing female athletes hailing from Alaska and beyond. “Blue” is a fantastical journey into a young girl’s imagination and a testament to the inherent creativity, innovation and strength forged in women of the north.

“Chasing Wild: Journey into the Sacred Headwaters”: Three friends set off on a 400 kilometer bikepacking and packraft expedition — pedaling through vast boreal forest, paddling frigid whitewater, battling monster trout, outrunning a grizzly — through the heart of the sacred headwaters in northwestern British Columbia, birthplace of three critical salmon rivers, and home to the Tahltan people. In the wake of the devastating Mount Polley Mine disaster, the team’s goal is to understand what is at stake as a wave of new mines are developed across this remote corner of the province.

“Carving Landscapes”: Atypical for her time, Mary Vaux defies all gender roles, mountain weather and traditions to spark the first glaciology study in North America. Her perseverance brings her back to the same glacier for five decades.

“The Last Green Thread”: Amidst the backdrop of massive development and population growth, three friends embark on a journey through the Everglades Headwaters in Florida to survey a fragile wilderness corridor before it disappears forever.

Our sponsors help make the Wild & Scenic Film Festival possible. Thanks to Alpine Bank, Grand River Construction Co., Karp Neu Hanlon, Casey Brewing and Blending, Rifle Regional Economic Development Corp., SGM, the Pullman, Phat Thai, Glenwood Adventure Co., Sopris Realty, Wright Water Engineers, RJ Paddywacks, Roaring Fork Beer Co., Mona Lisa Ladies Unique Boutique, and TreadZ.

More information and tickets can be purchased at the MCWC’s website, http://www.midcowatershed.org. Both showings are capped with a door prize raffle of local gift cards and cool gear. This event is historically a sell-out, so get your tickets today. To learn more about the films and filmmakers, visit http://www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org.

Jon Nicolodi writes a monthly column for the Middle Colorado Watershed Council, which works to evaluate, protect and enhance the health of the middle Colorado River watershed through the cooperative effort of watershed stakeholders. To learn more about the MCWC, go to http://www.midcowatershed.org. You can also find the Council on Facebook at http://facebook.com/midcowatershed.