It’s SLASH season again!
The 2025 SLASH (Sustainable Lands and Safer Homes) season is upon us. From May 15th to October 25th, four SLASH collection sites will be open for business, mostly on Thursdays thru Sundays, 9AM to 4PM, unless otherwise posted. You should plan to arrive no later than 30 minutes prior to closing. Read more
Information Specialist Judy Smetana, Volunteer Program Coordinator Ronnie Terry, and Volunteer Gardeners Michelle Poolet and Sandy Bates stand in front of the Boettcher Mansion display at this year’s Volunteer Recruitment Fair, which was held at JCPOS Headquarters in Golden.
Volunteerism isn’t anything new – it’s been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. Officially, volunteerism can be traced back to the 12th century in Britain, where more than 500 hospitals were staffed by volunteers.
The word “volunteer” stems from the Latin voluntarius – “willing, of one’s own free will”. It became part of the English language via Middle French, initially referring to someone who willingly offered themselves for military duty. Today, it has evolved to mean anyone entering service freely, whether military or community service.
Every year, Jeffco Parks & Open Space (JCPOS) hosts a Volunteer Recruitment Fair, during which time folks who are interested in becoming more engaged with our parks can investigate what being a hands-on part of Open Space might be like, i.e. entering service freely. Read more
By Vicky Gits Staff Writer Photos: Jefferson County Parks and Open Space
Conservation Awards night Jan. 29, 2026, at the Lakewood Cultural Center did not disappoint, with inspiring videos starring parks volunteers raving about how much they enjoy their duties, even cleaning toilets for Jefferson County Parks and Open Space.
The annual awards night is a tradition that has taken place since 2018 with the exception of 2021, when it was suspended because of COVID.
Currently there are about 550 regular, ongoing volunteers donating thousands of hours per year to educate visitors, build and maintain trails, restore vegetation, give advice to hikers, supply toilet paper, pick up litter and welcome visitors. A couple of thousand also turn out for one-time projects.
Emceeing the event this year was the newly appointed director of JCPOS, Aaron Roth, former National Park Service deputy regional director of eight states, in Lakewood for 20 years. His responsibilities there included oversight of Rocky Mountain and Great Sand Dunes national parks in Colorado. Read more
If you are planning to attend an Open Space Advisory Committee meeting, be sure to confirm the date at https://www.jeffco.us/1581/Advisory-Committee
If you would like to attend a PLAN Jeffco Board meeting, please contact us at Co*******@********co.org prior to the day of the meeting.
The 2025 SLASH season is upon us. From May 16th to October 26th, four SLASH collection sites will be open for business , mostly on Thursdays thru Sundays, 9AM to 4PM, unless otherwise posted. You should plan to arrive no later than 30 minutes prior to closing. Read more
2025 Conservation Awards Ceremony – Tom Hoby, Opening Ceremony, January 30, 2025. Article by Vicky Gits, photo courtesy of Michelle Poolet
Volunteers are the heartbeat of the Jefferson County Open Space system. In 2024, 6,038 individuals logged 57,000 working hours. They completed 549 projects, preserved 291 acres and created 17 miles of new trails.
All this effort represented the equivalent of 31 full-time workers, said Tom Hoby, executive director, at the 2025 Conservation Awards ceremony Jan. 30 at the Lakewood Cultural Center. Read more
Your PLAN Jeffco Board members (left to right) Cathi Schramm, Michelle Poolet, and Courtney App, get ready to head out into Crown Hill Park to plant trees and shrubs.
What were you doing on the Saturday before Earth Day, 2024? Three of your PLAN Jeffco Board members joined 124 other Jeffco Open Space volunteers to plant more than 350 (some say as many as 600?) native trees, shrubs and forbs (grass plugs) at Crown Hill Open Space Park, along with multiple patches of native wildflowers.
The day was dark and gloomy, but the planting crew trudged on through the snow and mud…
Despite the cold and snow, 127 conservation enthusiasts weathered the chilly temperatures, including 50 Columbine High School students. Traipsing through the snow and mud, lead by JCOS Natural Resource and Trails staffers, we got the job done before the snowfall resumed in the early afternoon.
One more Rocky Mountain Glow maple tree planted — hurray!
Initial success was measured by the feeling of accomplishment as a tree – in this case, a Rocky Mountain Glow maple – went into the ground. With luck and average annual rainfall (the trees on the east end of the park will not get any supplimental water), this maple will grow 20 to 30 feet tall, and will bear reddish-gold leaves in the fall. The chokecherry, wax current, rabbit brush and potentilla will grace the park with their flowers and fruit, while providing food and shelter for the smaller native inhabitants of the park.
The morning’s wet and cold and muddy activities wound up with a hot lunch buffet, catered by Illegal Pete’s and served by staffers from the JCOS Communications Team. The food was delicious – roasted meats, rice and beans, and Pete’s famous fajita and primavera veggies were top of the line, with plenty to go around. To top off the meal, the chocolate chip cookies were baked to the chewy stage, so good that they begged you to have another one.
It might be safe to say that, despite the inclement conditions, everyone at the Earth Day event had a good time.
Our thanks to JCOS and the Natural Resource, Trails and Communications teams for organizing and executing this 2024 Earth Day activity, and for upholding the meaning and intent of Earth Day.
From National Geographic Education encyclopedia: “Earth Day is an annual celebration that honors the achievements of the environmental movement and raises awareness of the need to protect Earth’s natural resources for future generations. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 in the United States and on either April 22 or the day the spring equinox occurs throughout the rest of the world.”
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/earth-day/
Miss Mountain Manners says: “This coming summer, when you’re strolling around Crown Hill Open Space park, look for native wildflowers on the north side, along 32nd Avenue, across from Wheat Ridge High School — but don’t pick the flowers! In the fall, as you walk the trails on the southeast side of the park, please stop and admire the red-gold leaves of the young maple trees and the brushy golden flowers of the rabbitbrush. Be proud of being a part of Jeffco Open Space.”
EAGLE’S NEST OWL’S ROOST (ENOR) Environmental Discovery Camp of Colorado State University Extension in Jefferson County celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024.
The camp began in the 1970’s and has pioneered education for over 20,000 children in 4th through 8th grade, in outdoor skills and stewardship of the local open spaces and trails. Read more
By Vicky Gits
Once a year, Jefferson County Open Space honors those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and exemplary effort as volunteers on behalf of Open Space Parks, as well as the causes on behalf of land preservation and involvement.
About 300 people attended this year’s Conservation Award event at the Lakewood Cultural Center Jan. 31. Members of the Open Space staff nominate candidates and choose the winners.
The highlight was a video tribute to volunteer role model John Litz, longtime board member of PLAN Jeffco, who died Dec. 29, 2023 at age 87. Although suffering from cancer, Litz continued to serve as an active member of both the PLAN Jeffco Board and the Open Space Advisory Committee before he died. Read more
