Potential Big Changes at Chatfield Reservoir and State Park

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by Ann Bonnell

Chatfield Lake was originally built for flood control and recreation. A study to store an additional 12 vertical feet, or 20,600 acre feet of water for residential, commercial and agricultural use, has been ongoing for over 10 years. There are 14 possible water users/districtswho may use this water. The additional water has only junior water rights, which means that the water may be available for storage in 1 out of every 3 years.

To accommodate the every-third-year higher water levels, the picnic areas, beach facilities, roads, marinas and other recreational facilities may have to be relocated. The lost wetlands, wildlife habitat and Preble’s meadow jumping mouse habitat will have to be replaced and over 200 acres of mature cottonwood forest are slated to be removed. In most areas, the added water will be shallow and not navigable by motor boats. In most years, the water levels will be where they are now, but the new facilities will be farther from the water. Surrounding the lake will be a “bath tub ring” of dirt, sand and mud flats. The water storage partners have promised to do their best to make amends for the proposed big changes around the lake.

If you are interested, what can you do?

The Draft FR/EIS [Feasibility Study/Environmental Impact Statement] on the Chatfield Reallocation Study is expected at the end of September 2011. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be holding three public meetings to provide information on the project, probably in mid October. There will also be a public comment period. The document itself, with all its appendices,will be over 2600 pages. It will be available for study in hard copy at several locations in the Denver area; it will also be available on the Internet. You can find some advance information on the water user’s public relations website at www.chatfieldstudy.org.

To see the maps on the site go to Supporting Documents, Public Outreach Flyer. You can ask questions in advance or be put on a list for notificationsby calling 1-866-643- 5875. 

2011 PLAN Jeffco Annual Dinner with the County Commissioners

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Don’t miss this year’s PLAN Jeffco Dinner with the Commissioners It’s a double header!

Two luminous guests, for the price of one!

Thursday, October 13th, 2011. 5:30pm with John Fielder! Lise Aangeenbrug!

Join us and John Fielder, world renowned landscape photographer, and Lise Aangeenbrug, Executive Director of Great Outdoors Colorado, for our annual dinner celebrating our part in preserving our open spaces. We will enjoy seeing some of Mr. Fielder’s latest photographs from locations in Jefferson County — as well as an advance peek at Mr. Fielder’s current project, “Mountains to Plains: Documenting 20 Years of Preservation,” offering visual testimony to the accomplishments by Great Outdoors Colorado and its many partners to protect Colorado’s natural heritage. Ms. Aangeenbrug will introduce Mr. Fielder, and explain GoCo’s role in our shared mission to ensure our land and open spaces can be enjoyed by future generations.

Rub elbows with the Commissioners and other county officials.

Tom Hoby, the director of the Jefferson County Open Space Program, and the chair of the Open Space Advisory Committee will also be making brief remarks. This is your opportunity to informally connect with county officials!

Copies of John Fielder’s previous works, both books and calendars, will be available for purchase — part of the proceeds to benefit PLAN Jeffco.

Make Your Reservations Now!

PLAN Jeffco’s Annual Dinner with the County Commissioners

Thursday, October 13th. 5:30pm

Mount Vernon Country Club

24933 Club House Circle, Golden CO

For tickets, please send $40 per attendee to:

PLAN Jeffco Dinner

% Michelle Poolet

24395 Cody Park Road

Golden 80401

Or to pay online, go to our web page planjeffco.org/dinner to use PayPal or your creditcard. 

Fall Harvest: the Gift That Keeps on Giving

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Year after year, domestic and wild plants give us—and local wildlife—”free food,” as it were. But some years are special. Trees bent under the weight of fruit they carried; now pantry shelves bend under the weight of jams and jellies as we try to cope with overwhelming abundance.

In the nut and seed world, when plants overwhelm the critters waiting to gobble their seeds, we call it a “mast year.” Production becomes so impressive we can’t help noticing. For pinons and perhaps acorns, this seems to be one of those years. Seed-eaters will never be able to keep up, and the trees will have a chance to produce seedlings that survive. Of course, it may take them a few years to recover from the effort. Mast years often recur on a semi-regular basis, with famine years in between, as if the trees were indeed exhausted. In fact, that’s part of the strategy of masting. Populations of mice, birds, and other seed predators can’t depend on the high production; they have to survive those lean years as well. By being undependable, trees improve their chance of reproductive success. The trees may seem to give freely, but feast is sure to be followed by famine.

The unfamiliar word “mast” literally means food. From the Old English and High German, it traditionally referred to the beech nuts and acorns that dramatically littered the forests of Europe some years and provided quantities of food, mostly for hogs. In temperate areas, however, many woody species have mast years, even our own native conifers and oak. What’s dramatic is that trees of a given species often synchronize, so that their mast years coincide, and woe, in the form of increased seed loss, befalls the misfits. Environmental conditions help control the timing of mast years, but not necessarily as we would expect. For ponderosa pine, for example, this fall’s seed crops were determined by prevailing conditions back in 1996.

Each fall, as seeds of all kinds embark on adventures beyond imagining, a vast harvest begins. Although we may see squirrels busily cutting cones, most of the harvest activity will go unnoticed. For some seeds, getting far away from the parent—where they are easy targets for predators—is crucial to survival. But there’s no guarantee life will be any easier after they get away. [In recent decades, ecologists have shown us that what happens to seeds helps determine what our landscapes look like. Once seeds leave the parent tree, they become invisible and we tend to forget about them—at least until we see new plants coming up. But the seeds are everywhere among the fallen needles and in the soil, as the critters that depend on them never forget.]

Although winged seeds have distance potential, most seeds will fall near their parent plant. For heavy seeds like acorns, travel is limited mostly to places the squirrels take them. Acorns don’t always stay where they fall either. If they land near the route of a foraging wild turkey, for example, their days are up; they become part of his daily calories. A Douglas-fir tree can deposit more than 300 seeds per square meter—that’s about 30 per square foot—directly below its canopy. A large Engelmann spruce puts down thousands of seeds per square meter close to home, but some, if they get into the wind, are carried off. There will still be hundreds of spruce seeds per square meter 150 meters out from the parent tree. If the seed crop is reduced 50% by a poor season or by seed-eaters, the number of seeds getting any distance away is also halved. That leaves plenty for colonization, which is what dispersal is for, after all. Once they land, they’re still vulnerable: in one study of Douglas-fir, 69% of the seeds were eaten or otherwise lost, but the remaining seeds still produced 3.7 seedlings per square meter.

Birds and small mammals collect and bury seeds, especially large nutritious tree seeds, after dispersal. The catch is that caching often works better for these predators than it does for the seeds. In a study of 840 pine seeds in 35 caches made by deer mice, the fate of seeds appears grim indeed. Ten caches were dug up and eaten before the end of autumn; nine more were destroyed the following May; and the others were used through the winter. Forty-nine plants developed from only six of the caches, but the mice uprooted and killed seedlings in three of them. At the end of the first growing season, only one cache still had live seedlings. Next time you see clumps of pine and Douglas-fir seedlings germinating from caches during a wet spring, you might want to go back later and see how many survivors you can find.

Does predation matter? Are forests endangered by mice and squirrels? Studies show that when one cause of mortality is eliminated, others often increase to compensate. Imagine all those cachebased seedlings again. In each clump, not all can survive as trees. Many more will die young, even if the mice don’t get them. Despite fears that forests will be decimated, seed predation only becomes relevant when it reduces the number of seeds below the number of seedlings that can survive in the environment.

The good news is that a plant, even a large tree,needs to reproduce successfully only once in its lifetime to replace itself; its odds are good despite massive losses. You might say that plants pay, sometimes dearly, for the dispersal services they receive. Caching may determine which seed, among the millions produced in the lifetime of a tree, will survive to replace its parent. But because predators cache more seeds than they need, most years improve the odds even further, as more caches are left uneaten. Those uneaten seeds are future forests, gifts to future generations of birds, mice, squirrels, and to all of us.

Copyright © 2011 Sally L. White

Jeffco Open Space Foundation, Inc.

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The Jeffco Open Space Foundation was incorporated in June 1998 and received 501(c)3 status in April 1999. It was incorporated “for education and charitable purposes to receive, solicit, administer and disburse gifts, grants devices, bequests or other conveyances or real and personal property or the income derived therefrom for the benefit of the Jefferson County Open Space Department upon a request from the director of the Jefferson County Open Space Department.”

The impetus for its formation was the dedication of the Nature Center Building and the fact that if one donated appreciated property to the County, the Internal Revenue Service would only allow deduction of the acquisition cost of the property. However, if the property was donated to a charity, the present market value was deductible.

The Foundation’s Director all are present or former members of OSAC plus past Open Space Director Ray Printz. Open Space Director Tom Hoby and Assistant County Attorney Steve Snyder serve as ex-officio members.

In the 13 years since the Foundation’s inception cash donations have totaled $764,000 – about $60,000 per year. These donations have been for memorials, bequests, and direct contributions. In these 13 years lands with a market value of $1,219,000, mineral rights with a value of $170,000, and a conservation easement with a value of $944,000 have been received.

Arvada Parks’ contributions. As such we have received donations for the West Arvada Dog (off-leash) Park, The West Arvada Disc Golf Course, The Skate Park (under construction) adjacent to the Apex Recreation Center, plus some contributions directed toward trails and conservation. Disbursements for these so far have included $63,950 for the dog park, $10,600 for the disc golf, and more than $20,000 is available for the skate park.

Accomplishments funded partially or fully by the Foundation for Open Space include:

Shelters in Elk Meadow Park

Exhibits at the Lookout Mountain Nature Center

Supplies to build trail bridges

Trail signs

Audio Visual systems for the Open Space meeting rooms

Improvements to the Plymouth Trail at Deer Creek Park

Fencing at Elk Meadow Dog Park

Picnic shelter at Lair ‘o’ the Bear Park

Memorials

Legal fees, back taxes, etc. for land and easement donations

Jeffco Open Space Foundation, Inc. - Photo Contest 2011 - winners.Jeffco Open Space Foundation, Inc. - Photo Contest 2011 - winners.Jeffco Open Space Foundation, Inc. - Photo Contest 2011 - winners.Jeffco Open Space Foundation, Inc. - Photo Contest 2011 - winners.Jeffco Open Space Foundation, Inc. - Photo Contest 2011 - winners.Beginning in 2009, the Foundation began paying the Field Trip costs for Jefferson County Elementary and Middle Schools with 40% or more attendees on free or reduced lunch fees. To date more than $13,000 has been spent for trips to Lookout Mountain Nature Center, Hiwan Homestead Museum, Majestic View Nature Center (Arvada), Bear Creek Lake Park (Lakewood), and Dinosaur Ridge. The feedback from teachers, students, and staff at the parks for this program has been enthusiastic.

In 2009, the Foundation Board began looking for an activity that would raise the profile of both the Open Space Program and the Foundation. And, if it made money, that also was fine. Many events were considered, finally settling on a photo contest. The photo contest was held between October 2010 and March 2011. Entries were received from 190 individuals (30 youth). Entries came from all counties of the metro area plus St Louis, MO and Westfield, NJ.

The categories for the photos were: Wonderful Wildlife, Spectacular Scenery, and People in the Parks. As one would expect, Spectacular Scenery had the most entries, both adult and youth. Open Space’s most highly used park, Crown Hill, was the subject of the most entries. Twenty-three County parks were subjects of the photos along with six city parks partially acquired or developed using Open Space funds.

The Foundation plans to repeat the contest this year.

Here are some of the winning photos (click to enlarge).

All of the winning photos are on the Foundation web site:

www.jeffcoopenspace.org

Bike Beat

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by Paul Murphy

Powered Mobility Devices in JCOS Parks

In response to a mandate from the federal level, Jefferson County Open Space has released its guidelines regarding the use of “mobility devices” in JCOS parks, and on JCOS trails. In short, persons with disabilities related to their mobility are permitted to access JCOS properties using powered devices of their choice. This does not mean that all parts of the park or every trail will become subject to this requirement, since it is not required that JCOS make alterations that “would fundamentally alter the nature of [its] service, program, or activity”, as stated in the regulation.

What it does mean is that we can expect to see people enter the parks and utilize some of the trails using powered devices, which might seem surprising at first, but, since this is a nationwide directive, expect to see adjustments to park policies pretty much everywhere. Rest assured that Segway in the Park is an approved activity, and it does not imply any other changes to park policy, beyond the accommodation of people with mobility issues. For a large volume of additional information, please see the following pages:

jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R168.htm

www.americantrails.org/resources/accessible/Summit-County-CO-policy-OPDMD.html

Priority Park: North Table Mountain – But What About Reynolds?

Although not always thought of as a destination park for mountain bikers, North Table Mountain has been selected as a “priority park” on which Jefferson County Open Space will focus resources this summer. We can expect continued activities at North Table Mountain Park as JCOS staff continue to implement the development plan for this park. The work will include further changes to familiar routes, as some existing trails are not on JCOS land. Resources are expected to be concentrated at North Table until implementation is complete.

Reynolds Park, where opportunities for mountain biking do not currently exist, will be affected by the focus on North Table, since resources will be shifted to the work at North Table Mountain. This is noteworthy to mountain bikers, since it will delay by perhaps a year the opening of a new regional connector trail, definitely slated to be multiuse and available for MTB use. This new trail, when complete, will make it possible to ride all the way from the parking lot at Waterton Canyon West on the Colorado Trail, then North on the connector all the way to Reynolds Park, between Foxton and Conifer. Also one can ride from Reynolds Park on the connector to the Colorado Trail, then West to South of Buffalo Creek and then North to Pine Valley Ranch. Taking the road from Pine Valley Ranch through Pine and Foxton will allow one to complete a loop to Reynolds Ranch.

Expanded Avenues for Public Participation

At the most recent Trail Users Forum, conducted on May 17th, Open Space Director Tom Hoby and JCOS staff outlined some thoughts on a coming initiative to expand the opportunities for the public to offer input and suggestions regarding the trail system and its management. Beginning with a broad review of the myriad of existing avenues and volunteer programs through which the program receives feedback from the public, Mr. Hoby suggested that additional opportunities, created specifically for the purposes of exchanging feedback and information regarding the trails, could be created. The program would follow the theme of promoting safe and enjoyable trail experiences for all users, while protecting resources. The precise nature of this program and specifics regarding its structure are yet to be determined, but it is expected that broad participation will be encouraged. Additional details regarding this program and opportunities for participation will be communicated in this space as information becomes available.

Volunteer Trail Days with JCOS

As always, there are a number of opportunities to volunteer on the trails with Jefferson County Open Space this season. For more information, go to trails.jeffco.us and click on “Volunteer Trail Days” to see Saturday events, or head over to minicrew.org for options occurring Thursday afternoons-evenings. 

Jan Wilkins and Wayne Forman – OSAC’s Co-Chairs

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Jan Wilkins and Wayne Forman – OSAC’s Co-ChairsWhen long-time OSAC Chairperson Greg Stevinson stepped down from this post as OSAC Chair in 2009, prior to the end of his term, Jan Wilkins and Wayne Forman – also seasoned veterans of OSAC, stepped up to co-chair the Committee. Finding that they worked together so well, they requested that this ruling structure remain in place, but alas…bylaws are bylaws, and OSAC doesn’t allow for co-chairing. So Wayne stepped into the Chairperson position, and Jan is now a Co-Vice Chair with Ken Morfit.

Talking with these two outside of an OSAC meeting is a genuinely pleasurable experience. Jan is warm and outgoing; she speaks freely of her involvement with open space issues over the years. Wayne is practical and forthcoming, and – as a practitioner of water, land use, and environmental law, extremely committed to Open Space.

Jan’s involvement as an activist for open space causes started around 1982, when – as a resident of Mount Vernon Country Club, on the west end of Lookout Mountain, she became chair of the Canyon Defense Coalition, an organization that opposed the plan to develop a rock quarry in Clear Creek Canyon. Her early exposure to Jefferson County’s approach to open space was her participation in the “Rock Round Table”, the County-initiated attempt at arbitration over this matter. Ultimately, and partially as a result of this experience, Jan developed her open space philosophy: “…just because land is undeveloped doesn’t mean that it’s preserved…”, and “…you need to buy it to preserve it!”

Jan also became a founding member of the Clear Creek Conservancy, citing Clear Creek as “a jewel on Denver’s doorstep, and a gift to this part of the world”. During this time she also stepped up to serve as President of the Mount Vernon Country Club. Never one to sit still for long, Jan teamed with Margot Zallen, Chair of PLAN Jeffco, Sharon Freeman and others to help with Save Open Space, a campaign organized by PLAN Jeffco and supported by OSAC, which at the time was being chaired by Greg Stevinson. The $160M revenue bond issue – to raise money to acquire open space land throughout Jefferson County – passed with a whopping 72 percent of the vote of county residents. As Jan said, “It’s one thing to oppose development; it’s another to form a method to save open space lands…the SOS campaign reflected the commitment of the voters.”

In 1998, Jan swapped her role as an Open Space activist for that of a politically-oriented Open Space advocate when she was appointed to OSAC.

To paraphrase Jan – the voters have seen so many key acquisitions since the passage of the SOS bond – they’ve been able to see what’s happened with the bond funds they approved with SOS. They’ve seen years of maintaining integrity in land acquisitions, of avoiding politicization of the process, of unwavering delivery of the process based on the founding principles of OSAC. In a moment of lightness, Jan confirmed that OSAC has had so much fun achieving the OS goals with the bond money…”OSAC, the most fun that you can have on a committee in this county!”

Jan spoke of Centennial Cone OS Park…dear to her heart, since it was very near the site of the proposed rock quarry back in the 80s, and is now almost totally protected open space. “Imagine, it went from a proposal for the largest gravel quarry in the state, to include 400 trucks a day, 7 days a week, traveling on Highway 6, to the crown jewel of Open Space. Centennial Cone is the best of citizen activism – it’s fulfilled such terrific ideals, 40 years of people’s visions…”

Wayne Forman’s attraction to Open Space began with his mountain biking excursions through the Open Space Park trails system. A 1984 graduate of CU Law in Boulder, and subsequently a resident of Denver’s Park Hill area, he saw Jefferson County Open Space as a way to “get away from it all”. In 1993 he moved to Genesee, in part to be closer to the lands that he’d grown to love. He’d been a JeffCo resident for about 6 months when he saw a notice in a local paper for an opening on OSAC. He applied, and was appointed as a reserve committee member. Wayne deprecatingly speaks of himself as the “token Democrat” of OSAC.

Wayne has a reputation among his colleagues as a quiet but very wise man. As per Jan, “…when Wayne has a point to make, it’s based on reason and logic.”

When asked about the “co-chair method” of governing OSAC, both Jan and Wayne agreed that it was great to have coverage for meetings and other events…one or another would always be available. At the end of the term, when it was evident that the “cochair method” would have to come to an end, Wayne and Jan discussed the issue and decided that Wayne would put his hat in the ring for the chair position, which he won. The question, of course, is “how different is the governing structure when it’s hierarchical (i.e. a single chairman) versus when there are two people sharing the leadership responsibility. Both agreed that the difference is minimal. Since Wayne took over as OSAC chair, the committee mindset has changed; the committee is now “a group of equals that is ‘horizontally balanced” with a lot of cross-person engagement and interaction”, to quote the two former co-chairs.

Wayne spoke to the invaluable nature of citizen participation in Open Space matters. He strongly believes that OSAC has to answer to the voting public, and that its mission is to benefit the Greater Good. “There’s a lot of balancing involved when you’re on OSAC; you have to hear all sides, you have to strike a proper balance.” According to Wayne, JCOS staff takes a lot of input early in the decisionmaking process, especially with individual and community meetings; they then share with and work very tightly with OSAC to develop a going-forward plan. “There’s two-way respect in the relationship, and OSAC trusts in the JCOS staff’s work, expertise, and recommendations.” Jan agreed, adding that “JCOS [staff] makes it easy for OSAC to make good decisions.”

The conversation then moved to the challenges facing OSAC and JCOS. The bond monies are mostly spent, and for the foreseeable future the organization will be working with an extremely tight budget of approximately $6M per year for acquisitions, development and joint venture grants. Open Space supporters are aging, and finding ways to attract a new population of supporters will be on the top of OSAC’s (and JCOS’s) to-do list. With OSAC’s support, JCOS Director Tom Hoby has launched a project to survey existing and potential users of Open Space properties, in an attempt to take the pulse of the changing demographics and understand how trail use concepts are shifting. Jan remarked on the recent Open Space Foundation photo contest, in the category of ‘Kids Under 18’ alone there were over 100 entries, many of which were of remarkable quality. She feels that this bodes well for support from the youngest generation.

Speaking to the future: “We are entering a new part in the life of the Open Space Program, where the focus is shifting from just acquisitions to more of an acquisition-development-management balance…we’ve got as much land as we could acquire, and now big blocks of land outstrip our financial capacity to acquire them…but we will manage.”

Speaking to the topic of the value that Open Space adds to Jefferson County, “…after more than 30 years involvement with Open Space, it’s apparent that the recognition of Open Space to the health of the county has never been stronger…there’s strong support from the Board of County Commissioners, the cities, and the park ‘n’ rec districts…natural resources (i.e. Open Space) are proeconomy, pro-lifestyle, and pro-quality of life…Open Space adds value to living in Jefferson county.”

In summary, Wayne pointed out that “people get involved initially [with Open Space] as an advocate for a point of view, to have the opportunity to make a difference. PLAN Jeffco and other agencies – MALT, CCLC, CARE, and many others – give people a chance to advocate.” From Jan’s point of view: “…with the very broad base of support [that Open Space has], I feel very optimistic about the foundation we all have laid for the Open Space program.” 

Everything’s Rosy!

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Here in Colorado’s foothills and mountain slopes, our future is rosy. So is our present, and for some time, so has been our past. We are fortunate in that almost everywhere we look, we see roses. Although June is the traditional month for traditional roses, the native roses we enjoy here often appear in May. Many of them, however, masquerade under other names, some even under disguises so complete most of us never suspect their true identities. There are roses hiding, literally, in almost every one of the flowering shrubs we seek out for their color and beauty each spring.

Roses have long been the domesticated friends of humans, serving in a variety of capacities. Flower and fruit provide pleasure and food, fragrance and sustenance. Among familiar tame roses, we find apples, pears, peaches, apricots, cherries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries: It’s hard to make a fruit pie without involving one or another of Rose’s cousins. If these fruits seem too diverse to be related, it’s because the Rose Family, with 3,000 members worldwide and 69 species here, is large and a bit unwieldy. Botanists often divide it into three separate subfamilies: The apple subfamily, with its multi-seeded fruits, includes pears, quinces, and hawthorns; the peach subfamily includes the “stone” fruits, cherries, plums, and apricots; and the rose subfamily is a catch-all for the rest—strawberries, true roses, potentillas, raspberries, and so on. A close look at the flower reveals an underlying unity: Five petals and sepals—and many, many stamens—characterize roses.

Everything's Rosy! by Sally White (drawing of a wild rose)If you think first of our wild pink rose, you’re on the right track. It alone, of all our local roses, retains the Latin name Rosa, although its specific name is variously given as arkansana, woodsii, acicularis, depending on where you are. Most of us have difficulty separating these very similar species—for good reason, as Rosa itself is described as “taxonomically difficult.” This genus alone has rosebuds, leaves, and “hips” nearly identical to those of our tame backyard roses, and is sought for rose hip jelly or tea. The Rose Family also includes many other dramatic and ubiquitous native shrubs. All are attractive enough, at least to me, to serve in domesticated situations, as well as in wild landscapes. Native roses—mountain mahogany, serviceberry, chokecherry, wild plum, potentilla—are readily available in the nursery trade, though you may have hunt for them. We’re fortunate that local nurseries stock all of these and many other native shrubs. Several local roses also provide food, at least for those who trouble to collect fruit for chokecherry or wild plum jelly (or wine!) each fall. Chokecherries and plums are also greatly appreciated by coyotes and other local wildlife who enjoy their abundance in season. If you don’t know how chokecherries got their name, try one!

Our other woody roses also have much to offer. The hawthorns (Crategus erythropoda and C. macracantha), with their lovely white flowers, glossy leaves, bright red fruits, and thorny red stems, are often found in foothills canyons. Feathery fruits adorn Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa), a more-distant native transplanted from lower deserts. Rock spirea (Holodiscus dumosus) is a distinctive local shrub with a loose spike of minute rosy-pink flowers and soft, almost pleated leaves.

Two that may be less familiar but are well worth looking for are the Boulder raspberry (Rubus deliciosus) and mountain ninebark (Physocarpus monogynus). The Boulder raspberry, with conspicuous white flowers and less-than-inspiring fruits, seems to tolerate sun and shade, and thus is seen in a variety of habitats. Mountain ninebark has tiny white flowers in clusters—the plants look like spring snowdrifts in shady areas. It grows a little higher in elevation and blooms a little later than other roses. Both have an orangish, shredded bark that offers winter interest.

To avoid entrapment by the thousands of rose clichés western civilization has inherited, I’m being vigilant against a powerful temptation. Who could write about these plants that have so long and so gracefully served humankind without repeating the discoveries of centuries of Rose’s admirers? I’ll leave it to you to remember our rosy sayings, but I think you’ll agree it’s hard to name another plant family that’s given us so much symbolism and legend down through the ages: from Eve’s apple, to the briars that grew up to protect Sleeping Beauty’s castle, to the symbol of love and loyalty still used by swains today. In song, in poetry, in our hearts, roses hold a special place. This year, remembering our natives, let the roses of Mother’s Day say even more than they usually do.

And I will make thee beds of roses

And a thousand fragrant posies…

Copyright © 2013 Sally L. White

PLAN Jeffco Active on Several Open Space Subjects

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by Marilyn Mueller

PLAN Jeffco functions as more than just a watchdog group. It observes meetings of the Open Space Advisory Committee, participates in subcommittees and issues groups, proposes and works for important acquisitions, provides advice to the Open Space Program, helps solve problems and keeps citizens informed of what is going on in their Open Space Program.

PLAN Jeffco, (PJ), operates thru its Board of Directors, which meets monthly. PJ schedules at least two major gatherings each year for the membership and interested citizens. Coming up in September will be “The Dinner with the Commissioners.” Held at Mt. Vernon Country Club, its aim is to bring together the Commissioners, The Open Space Staff, members of the Open Space Advisory Committee, PLAN Jeffco members and other citizens. In early spring, each year, there is the Annual meeting featuring a speaker or a workshop on topics of current interest.

A Candidates Forum will be held this fall. This meeting will feature the two candidates for County Commissioner, speaking and answering questions from the audience. See notices regarding the Commissioners Dinner and Candidates Forum in this issue.

Chairperson Margot Zallen and the PJ board have been busy responding to matters and events needing attention this year. Of major interest:

Trails – Continued involvement in meetings of the Open Space Trails Committee, whose purpose is to review use and conflict issues on our trails. Peter Morales (PJ Board Member) played a significant role in meetings and negotiations and actual decisions regarding the restructuring and repurposing of trails at Apex Park. Changes include directional traffic for bicyclists on odd-numbered calendar days over three segments of trail, construction of two new segments of trail and installation of trail features to add interest and moderate speed. For more information on specific trail changes and a new map of the Apex trail system, go to http://co.jefferson.co.us/jeffco/openspace_uploads/trail_use_changes_at_apex_park.pdf

Jefferson Parkway – This is the proposed extension of W470 on the north end of the Metro area, now called the Northwest Quadrant Toll Road. PLAN Jeffco has opposed this plan from the standpoint of the increased environmental impact to adjoining open space lands, the ensuing commercial and residential development which would substantially increase that impact, the fact that it would not solve the present traffic problems and would likely result in an increased tax burden on the residents of Jefferson County, to compensate for revenue short-falls.

County Master Plan Reviews – The County is revising their Master Plan and the segmented studies of the Mountain Backdrop areas in the North, Central, and South Plains areas. PJ Board members John Litz, Don Moore and Michelle Poolet have been active on this and any other present and long range planning subjects.

Staunton Park – This is a newly opened State Park, located in Jefferson County. PJ Board Member Vera Smith brought this to the Board’s attention when it was in the early planning stages, and PJ has been following the planning whenever public input has been possible. For more information on Staunton Park (and some fabulous pictures of the area) go to http://parks.state.co.us/Parks/Staunton/Pages/Staunton.aspx

Alex and Evelyn Rooney’s House – The house is located on county open space land and is part of a “hot button” area which includes the mountain backdrop, the Rooney Ranch and pastures, an historic Ute Indian council tree and assembly area, the Dinosaur Ridge Visitor Center, and the adjoining road over and along the hogback. An additional heavy impact from the East is the Three Dinos proposed plan for a large commercial and residential development. PJ board members Sally White and Ken Foelske have worked on proposing sealing and moth-balling Alex and Evelyn Rooney’s house until a study can create a Master Plan for the many uses, inter-entity relationships, and stakeholder involvement in this special area. For more information on the Rooney Ranch, go to http://www.rooneyranch.com/index.html

Identification of Desirable Additional Open Space Lands – PJ Board Member Greg Penkowsky is always on the hunt to identify additional open space land purchases and applicable sources of funding.

PLAN Jeffco is fortunate that our secretary, Betty Seeland, is also active in the League of Women Voters; this connection opens avenues of interaction between the two groups. John Litz, former PJ Chair, has been a member of the Open Space Advisory Committee for seventeen years and his presence gives PLAN Jeffco an important link to the Open Space staff and to the Commissioners.

This year’s Annual Meeting, held last March, featured two speakers who provided us with a full morning of entertaining yet relevant information. The meeting was co-sponsored with the League of Women Voters, the Audubon Society of Greater Denver, the Clear Creek Land Conservancy, the Rocky Mtn. Bird Observatory and the Colorado Mountain Club in Golden. The Mountain Club provided the use of their excellent auditorium.

The first speaker, Dyana Furmansky, introduced and reviewed her newly published book, “Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy.” Dyana is a dynamic speaker; she writes about the truly important and pivotal contributions that Ms. Edge made. Starting in the early 1900’s, Rosalie Edge alerted the public to the need for conservation programs protecting wild life. At that time, eagles and hawks were considered desirable hunting game. Quoting from the book jacket: “In 1930, Edge formed the militant Emergency Conservation Committee, which not only railed against the complacency of the Bureau of Biological Survey, Audubon Society, U.S. Forest Service, and other stewardship organizations but also exposed the complicity of some in the squandering of our national heritage. Edge played key roles in the establishment of Olympic and Kings Canyon National Parks and the expansion of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.” Reading this book will definitely strengthen and motivate efforts for the protection and stewardship of our own natural environment. For additional information on Dyana and her book “Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy”, go to http://www.dyanazfurmansky.com/Default.htm

Note: Dyana Furmansky was active in the 1972 election campaign that authorized the Jefferson County Open Space program.

The second speaker, Jason Beson, Special Monitoring Projects Coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, brought with him some “Up Close and Personal” slides of raptors found in Colorado. Not only did these slides show how handsome and elegant these hawks and eagles are, but he pointed out identifying markings to look for when you are viewing them in the field. He also spoke about the raptor migration surveys and pointed out that one of the early spring observation periods takes place on Dinosaur Ridge, which is part of our own Dakota Hogback, west of Denver. During migration from wintering places in the South to breeding sites in the North and back again, these raptors are aided by gliding and flying with the thermal currents created from the temperature differences between the high Rockies and the adjoining lower plains. The RMBO is headquartered at Barr Lake. Excited by Jason’s pictures, we recommend finding some binoculars and going out to Barr Lake to look for hawks and eagles, and in addition, check out the many other birds in that location. For more information on the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, go to http://www.rmbo.org/

Some of the guiding principles which guide PLAN Jeffco interests and subsequent recommendations:

1. Protection of viewshed areas

2. Protection of watersheds

3. Protection of areas important for solitude

4. Protection of dark skies (for star gazing)

5. Protection of wildlife, wildlife migration corridors, riparian areas and other critical wildlife habitats and buffer zones

6. Protection of the mountain backdrop

7. Protection of bio-diversity and endangered vegetation habitat

8. Encourage the consolidation and additions to larger rather than fragmented parcels of open space

9. Encourage the “buying and holding” of open space for long term preservation rather than the need to develop each parcel of open space acquired by the County

10. Review and consider needed amendments to the County Master Plan to support the appropriate preservation of open space 

2010 PLAN Jeffco Annual Dinner with the County Commissioners

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When: Thursday evening, September 30th, 2010. Social Hour: 5:30pm. Dinner Hour: 6:30pm.

Where: Mount Vernon County Club, 24933 Clubhouse Circle, Golden CO 80401, Canyon Trail Room.

Who: Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners, Open Space Advisory Committee, OS staff

What: Opportunity to talk to Commissioners, OSAC members and staff

Why: Because the Open Space Program is important to all of us

How much: $27 per person

Our new Open Space Director, Tom Hoby, will be our keynote speaker. We have invited him to speak about his long-range perspectives and strategies for Jeffco open space, to share his 5-year and 10-year goals, and to highlight what he sees as his priorities, and problems. We also want to know. how he sees the role of community organizations, and what can we do to help.

Reservations are required; please contact Michelle Poolet, 303.526.1348, ma******@ix.com, or Don Moore, 303.816.0907, dm*******@gm***.com. If leaving a phone message, speak slowly and clearly, spell your name, indicate how many in your party, and if anyone has special dietary needs (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, low-sodium, etc. – we give you more options than the airlines!), and don’t forget to leave a call-back number so we can confirm your request. Please reserve no later than 9/22/2010. 

County Selects Tom Hoby as New Director of Open Space and Community Resources

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Tom Hoby is not only our Open Space Director, he’s also the Director of the Community Resources Department. As such, he has executive oversight of the Boettcher Mansion, the CSU Extension, and the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. He brings to these jobs a very wide range of experience gained in his 29 years in the industry. He is a graduate of Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Outdoor Recreation Administration. He also has completed a number of educational programs to enhance his skills, earning him the title of Certified Park and Recreation Professional.

His start in open space administration was as an Outdoor Recreation Planner for the BLM with responsibility for 30 recreation sites and two wilderness areas. Tom then moved on to Lafayette, Colorado, where he served as Recreation Director for the city. There he managed nine parks, an outdoor pool, and 300 acres of open space. During his tenure he built community support and secured funding to create Waneka Lake Park.

Following his stint in Lafayette, Tom worked for a sports field lighting company designing, installing, and servicing lighting systems. He then spent five years as the Associate Executive Director of Special Olympics in Colorado. During this time, Tom created numerous strategic plans for regional program sustainability, coordinated statewide event locations, and managed funding and the structure of an organization that serves more than 150 communities and 5,000 people with developmental disabilities who participate in 18 sports throughout the year. He did this with a team of 22 staff and more than 9,700 volunteers.

Tom then returned to his Outdoor Recreation background, becoming the Director of Parks and Recreation for the Town of Essex, Vermont. He managed a 2200-acre park system including 18 parks, an innumerable number of trails, an outdoor swimming pool, public buildings and recreation programs.

Tom then returned to Colorado as Director of Parks, Recreation and Open Space for the Highlands Ranch Metro District. He led the efforts that created a model “green infrastructure community“ with a 3,000 acre parks and open space system comprised of 24 parks, over 70 miles of trails, 2500 acres of open space, four dog parks, two skate parks, 33 buildings and shelters, and a USTA national award winning tennis center. Tom created partnerships with local, county and state parks, open space and trails agencies, non-profit organizations, utility companies, the Douglas County School District, Littleton Fire Rescue, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Libraries, the Highlands Ranch Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, businesses, homeowner associations and service groups.

Tom is a forward-thinking, collaborative, consensus-building leader with a 30-year record of developing innovative and outstanding parks, recreation, open space and trails programs and services. A PLAN Jeffco Board member participated in the interview process, and we are certain that Tom can effectively direct the Jefferson County Open Space program.

As noted elsewhere in this newsletter, Tom will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Commissioners Dinner. At that time he will have the opportunity to inform the audience of his philosophies and goals as they relate to managing Jefferson County Open Space.