Featured Archives - Page 2 of 15

Boettcher Mansion Gardens Re-emerge with the Spring

March 13, 2026/0 Comments/in Articles That Educate, Featured, JeffCo Open Space, Parks, Uncategorized /by BlogMaster

Boettcher as seen from the Mule Deer Garden_quarter

The Boettcher Mansion as seen from the Mule Deer garden.

By Victoria Gits, PLAN Jeffco Staff Writer and Board Secretary

Three years ago, the lovely, historic Boettcher Mansion on Lookout Mountain was surrounded by a mostly neglected landscape of overgrown grasses and weeds not really in keeping with the grand Arts and Crafts home known as a popular wedding venue.

Thanks to volunteer gardeners, today the grounds on three sides of the house are full of thriving annuals, perennials, shade-or-sun loving plants, flowering shrubs and vines. Even in mid-September one can peruse the zinnias, sunflowers, impatiens, daisies and mums – and petunias, calibrachoa, and sweet potato vine – lots and lots of them.

Instead of forgettable space, the outdoors is now a horticultural showcase and a destination worthy of taking visitors for a peaceful walk any time of day for free, with or without a wedding to attend. Read more

February 2025 featured image, elk in late winter

PLAN Jeffco Monthly February 2026

March 4, 2026/0 Comments/in Featured, Newsletters, Uncategorized /by BlogMaster

PLAN Jeffco Monthly February 2026

Download your copy of the PLAN Jeffco Monthly February 2026

ENOR Environmental Discovery Camp Has Scholarships

February 24, 2026/0 Comments/in Articles That Educate, Calls to Action, Featured, JeffCo Open Space, Parks, Parks & Trails /by BlogMaster

You’re hiking or cycling in one of our Open Space parks. You encounter a group of kids with a couple of adults, and they seem totally engrossed in a patch of shrubbery. You stop for a moment, you hear children’s voices exclaiming about what they’ve found – they seem so excited about everything around them.

Welcome to ENOR – Eagle’s Nest, Owl’s Roost – Environmental Discovery Camp, which is sponsored by the Jeffco CSU Extension office. ENOR has been in the business of getting kids outdoors for more than 50 years.

Jeffco Parks & Open Space was so impressed with ENOR’s achievements that, in 2024, they presented ENOR with the Gambel Oak Award, as a Pioneer in Environmental Education, at that year’s Conservation Awards Ceremony. Read more

2026 Conservation Awards

February 15, 2026/0 Comments/in Events & Parties, Featured, JeffCo Open Space, News & Views, Uncategorized /by BlogMaster

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

PLAN Jeffco Monthly January 2026

January 30, 2026/0 Comments/in Featured, Newsletters, Uncategorized /by BlogMaster

PLAN Jeffco Monthly January 2026

Download your copy of the PLAN Jeffco Monthly December 2025

Entrance to the Jenkins Peak Trail. The former dog park housed a popular fenced off-leash area JCPOS closed down the area in 2017.

Miracle Makeover: Stagecoach Trailhead Reopens

January 22, 2026/0 Comments/in Featured, JeffCo Open Space, Parks, Parks & Trails, Uncategorized /by BlogMaster

By Vicky Gits, Staff Writer PLAN Jeffco

After being closed for restoration since 2017, the former dog park and trailhead off Stagecoach Boulevard reopened Oct. 25, 2025, as a feature inside Elk Meadow Park in Evergreen. Dogs are still welcome in the park, as they are elsewhere in the system, but they must be on leash, as there is no fenced, off-leash area.

The Stagecoach Trailhead is about two miles west of Evergreen Parkway on the south end of Elk Meadow Park. The enclave has 107 acres compared to 1,600 acres in the whole of Elk Meadow Park. Read more

Upcoming Events 2026

January 22, 2026/0 Comments/in Events & Parties, Featured, Sticky /by BlogMaster

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.

MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE INFESTATION 2026

January 21, 2026/0 Comments/in Featured, JeffCo Open Space, Land Preservation, News & Views, Uncategorized /by BlogMaster

The Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) is back in Jefferson County. This little bug, this native to the western North American pine forests, is responsible for the periodic loss of millions of pine trees – most normally Ponderosa, Lodgepole, Scotch and Limber pines.

Mountain pine beetles (MPB) are always with us, having evolved with the western pine forests. Under ideal conditions, their attacks are low-level, limited to trees that have been stressed due to injuries, drought, over-crowding, fire damage, root disease or old age. However, every 10-30 years, whether due to beetle population explosions, enhanced drought, or warmer temperatures (or all three), major outbreaks occur. The last major MPB outbreak in Jeffco occurred from 1996 to 2004. Since 2023 there have been signs of a new resurgence of MPB in our area.