2026 Conservation Awards nominees

2026 Conservation Awards

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2026 Conservation Awards nominees

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

Mountain Pine Beetle from UC Boulder

MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE INFESTATION 2026

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MPB & Galleries - Colorado State Forest Service-CSU

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.

Read more

2025_April_CCC Clear Creek Trail Construction-11 Huntsman Segment_quarter

Huntsman Segment Major Milestone

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2025_April_CCC Clear Creek Trail Construction-11 Huntsman Segment_quarter

Traffic comes to halt in both directions on Hwy-6 as construction workers place bridges over Clear Creek and create the underpass for river access as Peaks to Plains Trail makes substantial progress.

Canyon Project Hits Major Milestone With Huntsman Segment of the Clear Creek Trail

By Vicky Gits, PLAN Jeffco Staff Writer

Photos courtesy of Anne Ludolph, Jeffco Parks & Open Space Multimedia Specialist

UPDATE 11/20/2025: The trailhead formerly known as the “as yet to be named trailhead” now has a name. The CCR (Colorado Central Railroad) Trailhead was the site of a grand opening ceremony for the eastern 1.25 miles of the Huntsman Segment on this day.

An engineering miracle on Jeffco Parks & Open Space land is nearing completion in Clear Creek Canyon along U.S. 6. Just beyond Tunnel One, the new segment of the Peaks to Plains Trail is expected to partially open before the end of 2025.  This is a moment that Open Space has been planning for years.

Currently under construction is a 3-mile concrete trail deep inside one of the least forgiving passages along the rugged river’s granite gorge. Read more

How to be a horse-friendly biker, SB25-149

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Horseback riders in the parks in the spring

Since the recent passage of Colorado Senate Bill 25-149, the “Local Government Duties Equestrian Protections”, or the Equestrian Bill of Rights, as it’s more familiarly called, Miss Mountain Manners has decided that it’s time to refresh this post on how to share the trail with equestrian visitors.

SB25-149 aims to enhance equestrian safety by:

  • allowing municipalities and counties to create equestrian zones, which are defined as areas with public equestrian venues, residential neighborhoods with significant equestrian activity, or properties that serve the equestrian community;
  • Read more
SLASH 2025 Calendar image

SLASH 2025

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SLASH 2025 Calendar image

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

Bette Seeland head shot

PLAN Jeffco Loses Co-Founder Bette Seeland

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Bette Seeland portrait

PLAN Jeffco co-founder Bette Seeland helped launch the campaign for Jefferson County Open Space and was a pillar of PLAN Jeffco for 52 years.

By Vicky Gits

Bette Seeland, one of three co-founders of PLAN Jeffco in 1971, along with John Litz and Margot Zallen, passed away March 2, after a long illness. Read more

Westminster Reverter - social trail heading west into Rocky Flats

Open Space agrees to forgo trail improvement near Rocky Flats in deal with Westminster

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Westminster Reverter - social trail heading west into Rocky Flats

Westminster social trail heading west across Indiana Street into Rocky Flats.

By Vicky Gits

Jeffco Open Space Advisory Board unanimously approved an agreement resolving a contract dispute between Open Space and the City of Westminster over completing a 0.4-mile-long trail connection between the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge and Westminster Hills Open Space. The advisory board endorsed the deal in an 8-0 vote in a regular meeting on March 6. Read more

2024 Open Space Survey

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It’s that time again, when — every few years — Jeffco Open Space elicits feedback from the public on issues like planning for the parks, and improving and maintaining not just the Open Space Parks, but also shared parks, trails and open spaces.  Here’s your chance to voice an opinion on our Jeffco Open Space Parks. The survey will be open for just a short time, so go to this page and start engaging!

Shadow Mountain Bike Park screen

SHADOW MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK DENIED

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Shadow Mountain Bike Park screenIn a seven to zero unanimous decision, last night the Jeffco Planning Commission denied Resolution 23-102980RZ, the Special Use request from the Shadow Mountain Bike Park.

If you’ve been following this development, or if you’re an avid downhill mountain biker, then you’re already aware of the decision – but for everyone else, here’s a bit of background and why the request was denied… Read more

ME, MY DOG & THE GREAT OUTDOORS

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This is a repost of the article written in April 2021 by D. Jean Tate. Riley is no longer with us, but Jean and Leia, her new trekking companion, continue to visit the Parks. The information and lessons learned are as important today as they were in 2021. We hope you appreciate the reminder and enjoy the read.

Jean Tate and Riley at White Ranch OS Park

Sharing the outdoors with your dog—it’s one of the most enjoyable things I know!  For that reason—and because our open lands and trails are used by wildlife plus an ever-increasing number of people for a variety of activities, and also because of dogs’ natural inclinations—there are rules to be followed when you and your dog are outdoors, outside the bounds of your private property.  Those rules vary by location based on political boundaries, land ownership, and land management. Read more