Douglas Mountain Acquisitions

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by John Litz

By the end of 2015, Jefferson County Open Space will have closed on three parcels of land totaling 1,036 acres that include the summit of Douglas Mountain. The map shows that most of the three properties are located west of the intersection of Golden Gate Canyon and Robinson Hill Roads. The small acreage to the north of the intersection contains the Centennial House, which was built of stone between 1872 and 1876. The building served as a stage stop for travelers along the historic Gregory Toll Road between Golden and Central City.

PLAN Jeffco has advocated for the acquisition of properties on Douglas Mountain for more than 20 years. We are pleased that the owners have allowed Open Space to preserve them.

The upper slopes of the southern part of the property have numerous locations that provide scenic views to the east and south – Mount Tom and Centennial Cone. The northeast side of the property is adjacent to 573 acres owned by Open Space that abuts the wildlife preserve portion of Golden Gate State Park. The southern boundary is about one mile north of Centennial Cone Park.

Douglas Mountain Acquisitions - heartleaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia)The property is part of the ecosystem that contains drainage to both Clear Creek and Ralston Creek. Parts of the ecosystem were included in the “2010-2011 Survey of Critical Biological Resources in Jefferson County by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program”. The property on the west, Blackhawk Mountain, is forested with Douglas fir and aspen and supports a small, montane grassland. It was rated at “B-5 – General Biodiversity.” The property to the east, Mount Tom, supports limber pine, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and Douglas fir. It was rated “B-3 – High Biodiversity.” The southern extent of the Douglas Mountain property was certified for the previous owners, through the American Tree Farm System, as a sustainable Tree Farm. A site visit by Open Space staff identified heartleaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia), which is an indicator of a healthy, highly functioning ecosystem.

The properties are included in the North Mountain Community Plan, which recommends preserving as much open space as possible, especially along the Golden Gate Canyon Road Corridor. The Plan also recommends diffusing the impacts of recreational development throughout the area. Public access probably will be from points on both Golden Gate Canyon and Robinson Hill Roads.

Open Space will take two years or so to study and understand the natural resources on the property. Then the planning group will look at the recreational possibilities of the property. Any development, probably, is at least five years away. 

Trails Talk (December 2015)

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by John Litz

The Fall Trails Talk was held November 10 at the Buchanan Recreation Center in Bergen Park.

Unfortunately the attendance was poor with more staff there than public.

Tom Hoby opened with a quick review of accomplishments over the summer (mainly completing the repair of the flood damage with the help of many volunteers.) He also discussed the climbing management guidelines, the revised activity permits, and the results of surveys where designated trail use was evaluated. In this case, the trails were designated for all users uphill with a separate downhill trail for cyclists. The results are still being evaluated as to whether it would be appropriate when designing trails on new parks.

After a few questions from the audience, those in attendance were able to talk with staff at various table stations that included:

Climbing management guidelines

Completed flood recovery work

Designated use trails survey

Revised activity permits

Revised activity permits

Trail volunteer projects

Safe winter outdoor experiences

Your trail experience

Be Wild

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by John Litz

In the summer of 2015, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), solicited proposals for a grant program designed to get low-income children and families more involved in the outdoors. The program consisted of two phases:

1) grants up to $100,000 for planning during 2015 and 2016

2) and grants in 2016 for implementing from a $5 million pool.

Jeffco Open Space was made aware of the program early in 2015 and gathered a group of 31 agencies to assist in developing the grant application. The proposal criteria were not available until June, but that did not keep the agencies from regular meetings and developing ideas for the proposal. The proposal was submitted in mid-August and awards were made in October. Jeffco received a planning grant of $75,000.

The objective of the “Be Wild Jeffco” proposal is to increase access to and availability of outdoor programs to residents along the Eastern Corridor of Jeffco—essentially Sheridan to Wadsworth and north of Hampden, plus a node going west of Wadsworth between 6th and 26th avenues. Arvada already has a program in place serving the southeast corner of the city and Lakewood had a program this summer focused on the area surrounding Mountair Park (14th and Depew).

The 31 agencies, ranging from the city park departments to the Forest Service and Denver Zoo, will be working on developing a detailed proposal to present to GOCO in August 2016. The proposal then will serve as basis of GOCO making an implementation grant.

Land and Water Conservation Fund Expires

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by John Litz

Congress allowed the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to expire Oct. 1. With it could go thousands of projects nurtured along by people who had hoped that the chaos of a political party in a high fever would not reach into their favorite places. But it has. Neighborhood playgrounds, walking trails bordering bustling cities, national parks, beaches, bridges, bike paths and birding sites are all imperiled by a handful of Congresspersons. For a half century, everything including the hugely popular Appalachian Trail and the memorial in Pennsylvania where Flight 93 went down Sept. 11, 2001, has relied on money from this fund, generated by revenues from oil and gas leases.

Representative Rob Bishop of Utah, R, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee is the primary impediment. He clearly doesn’t like public land or parks. If Bishop would only get out of the way and let renewal of this popular fund come up for a full vote, it would pass with bipartisan support, as evidenced by commitment letters from members of both parties. The fund was last renewed 25 years ago, and sailed through with nary a complaint. This money has helped to protect places in all 50 states and 98 percent of American counties. Bishop has complained that the money is a “slush fund,” misused by those who want to help expand the public land footprint.

Land and Water Conservation Fund ExpiresMore than 40 percent of the National Parks contain privately owned inholdings. The LWCF is the main source of funds used to acquire these inholdings. The Fund has been used to acquire more than 7,000 acres in Zion National Park and about 5,000 acres in Dinosaur National Monument.

Much of the fund has been spent assisting in providing conservation easements on private lands. It has been used by many states, counties, cities, and districts as a source of matching funds for park, trail and similar projects. In Jefferson County the LWCF provided Open Space with part of the funding for the acquisition of Clement Park.

From 2011 through 2014, 29,200 acres were conserved in Colorado with the help of LWCF dollars. The total spent on all of the projects within the state was $26,300,000.