Features & Opinions Archive – Page 5 – PLAN Jeffco

Distelfinks and Dinosaurs

May 15, 2013/in Articles That Educate, Features & Opinions Archive /by planjeffcoadmin

Author: Sally White

Illustrations: Jan Ratcliffe

Date: May 2013

Sparrows don’t quite do it for me: I look at them and I clearly see birds, normal birds, hopping on the ground looking for seed or flying around. But distelfinks are different. Distelfink, literally “thistle finch,” is a handy word still used by the Pennsylvania Dutch for a group of birds that reminded them of the colorful finches of their homeland. It’s both memorable and descriptive, as distelfinks of all species adore thistles—in season, of course. Perhaps you’ve encountered flocks of pine siskins and lesser goldfinches raiding roadside thistle patches in fall, and fluttering wildly away as each car passes. For me, it’s less trouble to say “distelfink” than to list all our yellow finches—pine siskins and American goldfinches and lesser goldfinches—and our pinkish-red finches—purple, house, and Cassin’s finches. Other birds never act like dinosaurs. Distelfinks do, at least at my house.

Scientists who study fossils have, of late, been trying to tell us birds are actually dinosaurs: watching distelfinks makes me a believer. Ounce for ounce, they must be among the most aggressive dinosaurs left alive. This is made apparent by their habit of congregating in mixed flocks for fall and winter feeding. After all, most of us get a little irritable in crowds. Pine siskins are the worst. As they fight for space at the thistle feeder in our yard, they hiss and spit at each other, flashing the yellow under their wings and adopting threatening postures. Sometimes I think firebreathing dragons are the true missing link between birds and other dinosaurs, the extinct ones.

All this aggression is presumably brought about by the survival value of simply getting enough food. Small birds come together in numbers because of the advantages flocking offers: better protection and a warning system for predators. Flocking also means more eyes on the lookout for good food sources, but you still have to get your share while dozens of your fellows try to get theirs. Picture the noon crowd at your local food court.

Fortunately, we have a lot of thistle patches around. Therein arises one of those conundrums of conservation. Plant enthusiasts are trying to eliminate exotic thistles; bird enthusiasts enjoy thistle patches for the many birds they support. Although we have a variety of native thistles, most don’t thrive quite the way foreign invaders like musk and Canada thistle do. Have we improved habitat for distelfinks by allowing alien thistles to spread unchecked these last hundred years? Yes and no. Native birds do have alternatives: pine siskins are aptly named because they pick at pine cones as successfully as at thistles; American goldfinches are equally happy eating sunflower or dandelion seeds. Although their numbers may have increased with new food supplies, I don’t think removing exotic thistles will drive distelfinks toward extinction.

Flocking, or perhaps we’d better call it herding, probably also provided similar advantages to some dinosaur species. Communal dinosaur nesting grounds in Montana remind us of today’s seabird colonies, substituting groups of 25-foot-long duckbills who return to the same place year after year to nest together and care for their young. A herd of these Maiasaura migrating from nesting areas to feeding grounds might foreshadow the long migrations our flying dinosaurs make today.

I imagine the pine siskins as coelurosaurs: scrappy, ostrich-like dinosaurs who may have hunted in groups. Solitary eagles are more reminiscent of lone hunters like Tyrannosaurus rex. A small peregrine falcon may recall Velociraptor; both have a strike that is quick and deadly.

Paleontologists have given us a lot to think about with this bird connection. Just think—now you can study dinosaurs in your own backyard! Much of our understanding of the past must come from our knowledge of the present, because Nature still works much as it did during the Cretaceous Period. Even scientists use their imagination, and often reason from analogy as well as from hard facts. As the famous geologist James Hutton once put it: The present is the key to the past. So if you want to see dinosaurs at home, and speculate on Earth’s older inhabitants, you’re in good company. I should warn you, however, that the bird specialists have not yet fully accepted this new, closer link between dinosaurs and birds.

Because birds are ubiquitous and seem to be a harmless background presence, we don’t consciously notice how thoroughly they’ve occupied “our” world. When you think about it, they’re everywhere. In and amongst our supposedly dominant culture, birds as a group continue to thrive and still live a variety of lifestyles. They are, however, showing the effects of our presence and the pressures we put on them; too many are disappearing. Those earlier dinosaurs, in their heyday, must have similarly dominated their environment, and eventually succumbed, perhaps due to some similar pressure. May the distelfinks last as long.

Letter to Governor Hickenlooper Regarding SB13-258

May 3, 2013/in Features & Opinions Archive /by planjeffcoadmin

May 3, 2013

Re: SB 13-258

Dear Governor Hickenlooper,

PLAN Jeffco requests that you veto SB13-258. We are the group that initiated the Jefferson County Open Space Program in 1972 and worked on the Party for the Parks celebration that you recently attended.

We oppose SB13-258, which is the proposed amendment that would result in developers no longer being required to demonstrate that they have adequate water for their entire project prior to initial approval of their development proposal. This new legislation is to assist Sterling Ranch obtain approval for its proposed large rezoning because it had not demonstrated an adequate water supply at the time of rezoning. A Colorado District court judge ruled that because of this lack of compliance with existing law, the rezoning request for Sterling Ranch cannot be approved. Although this amendment was generated because of the Sterling Ranch decision in Arapahoe County, the amendment will have serious ramifications throughout the state and seriously weaken existing state law.

We have much open land in Jefferson County that this would apply to and we believe the final results of this proposal may be boon to many developers but will lead to serious problems for future land owners and all of the citizens of Jefferson County and the State of Colorado. The tax payers of the State of Colorado, 99% of whom are individual citizens, will end up footing the bill for foolish and ill-thought-out development projects, which will be allowed if this bill is signed into law.

We all know that we live in an area with scarce water resources and allowing a development to proceed piecemeal before there is a secure supply of water is something PLAN Jeffco opposes. Therefore, we ask that you veto this bill.

Sincerely,

Margot Zallen, Chairperson, Plan Jeffco

Crown Hill Park

May 1, 2013/in Features & Opinions Archive /by planjeffcoadmin

The Open Space Department has had an on-going, five-year program on making repairs and changes at Crown Hill Park. During the initial years of the program, the improvements were to the natural surface trails, where crusher fines were added to level the trails and make them more useable in wet weather. Beginning in 2013, the County Road & Bridge Department replaced many sections of the hard surface trails that needed repair or rerouting. Additional plans were to make a small area for handicapped parking and JCOS maintenance staff, replace the restrooms, replace the fitness equipment, replace the small gazebo north of the main parking lot with a larger shade structure north of the restroom, and add a nature play area east of the parking lot.

After a Community meeting in March and an online survey, it was determined that there was not enough support to add the nature play area. Construction will proceed in late summer on the parking lot addition and new restroom. The results of the on-line survey showed about 50% support for a shade structure and replacement of the fitness equipment.

A second community meeting was held April 30. Two alternates were proposed for the shade structure and the fitness equipment. Attendees were asked to rate the alternates and provide reasons for their choices. Although many of the 150 or so in attendance wanted nothing, it appeared that about 30% were in favor of an 8-foot-tall, semi-circular structure and about 40% were in favor of replacing four of the exercise stations with new equipment. A decision on the fitness equipment and shade structure has been made after review of all the comment sheets. The existing exercise stations will be removed, the existing shade structure will remain, and a new shade structure will not be erected. The water tap size will be increased from the present 1-inch to 1-1/2-inches to accommodate the new restroom and allow for more irrigation within the 1-acre surrounding the restroom.

Suggestions made during the public process will continue to be explored during the annual park management planning process, including:

Adding a berm along Kipling

Developing a program to manage pet waste

Addressing concerns about work quality on the recently completed trails

Adding blinds to the observation area in the wildlife sanctuary

Conducting more nature education programs and providing toolkits for families

Planting more trees (outside the one acre area)

Alternative exercise apparatus

Alternative ideas for shade

May 4 was the 3rd Annual “Spring into Service” project sponsored by the Colorado Mountain Club, REI, and Jeffco Open Space. About 220 volunteers participated in this project at Crown Hill Park. The service activities were maintenance-oriented: spreading and leveling crusher fines on about ¾ mile of natural surface trail; leveling the shoulders along the hard surface trail around the lake; preparing a number of social trails for revegetation and completing the revegetation on some. Trust that we have a cool and slightly moist May for the revegetation to take hold. It was nice to see a number of the “Friends of Crown Hill” participating – strengthening their love for this unique park.

For more information on Crown Hill Open Space Park and the on-going maintenance service schedule, go to http://jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R7.htm.

MORE INFO:

Crown Hill Park

1,200 Acres on and near Rocky Flats Conserved and Federal District Court Rules on Refuge Land Transfer to Hightway Authority

February 28, 2013/in Features & Opinions Archive /by planjeffcoadmin

The Board of PLAN Jeffco has opposed the proposed W 470 – Jefferson Parkway/Tollway primarily because of the potential for releasing plutonium contaminated soils, increased traffic on Hwy 93, increasing development in sensitive scenic areas and because traffic studies have continually shown that the Parkway would not alleviate traffic problems east of the proposed road nor would a toll road be financially viable in the long term. PLAN Jeffco has worked for years to support the preservation of the natural areas on Rocky Flats – Section 16 and the mountain backdrop and foreground are part of an ecosystem and wildlife migration route. As the years have passed, inadequate potential use of the toll way has continued to be the case as more of the land in the Northwest quadrant was preserved as open space and much of the potential commercially-industrially zoned lands are being developed for housing.

A beltway around Denver was drawn on maps in Washington, D.C. during the Eisenhower Presidency – the start of the Interstate Highway system. In most cases beltways do make sense, but when geography interferes they may not be practical. Cities adjacent to mountain ranges, lakes or oceans have developed close to those features leaving little or no room for the space required by a freeway. PLAN Jeffco participated in the Denver Regional Council of Government, (DRCOG) studies relating to Governor Lamm’s putting a “silver stake” through building C-470 to interstate standards. The funds saved were used to improve Santa Fe Drive from I-25 to C-470.

When W-470 was proposed with a small tax on each property each year, PLAN Jeffco attended many meetings, but did not participate in the election that defeated the proposal. As studies were conducted in the late 1990’s and 2000’s PLAN Jeffco was not surprised that estimated traffic counts continued to not justify such a route. This did not stop proponents of the Parkway as some wanted it to reduce the traffic on Wadsworth (the traffic studies showed the reduction would be minimal) and others wanted it to support commercial development along the route (only area left on the Parkway route is along Highway 72 between Indiana and Highway 93 and much of that has been rezoned residential.)

During the legislative process for designation of the former Rocky Flats nuclear facility to become a National Wildlife Refuge, the Parkway Authority lobbied to have a portion of the Rocky Flats site disposed of for transportation purposes so, it could construct a toll way. The bill authorizing transfer to the Fish and Wildlife Service for refuge purposes included permission for the sale of a 300-foot strip on the West side of Indiana Street for right-of-way.

Both Boulder County and Boulder City Governments for a long time had been opponents of the Parkway, because of the potential for additional development along Highway 93. They have made three expensive acquisitions along Highway 93 North of Highway 72. Jefferson County Open Space (JCOS) has had an agreement with Lafarge to not exercise their mining lease on most of the state owned Section 16, just North of the Northeast corner of Highways 72 and 93. Section 16 and portions of the lands on the West side of Rocky Flats are home to relic Front Range Tall Grass Prairie. Less was spent on the Rocky Flats remediation than was appropriated, and some of these, Natural Resources Damages funds, were made available for land and mineral right acquisitions in the area.

After considerable negotiation, a complex agreement was reached and Boulder City and County dropped its opposition to the Parkway. The financial contributions were to be:

Parkway Authority: $2.8 Million, the appraised value of the right-of-way,

Natural Resources Damages funds: $3.3 million

JCOS: $5 million

Boulder City: $2 million

Boulder County: $2 million

Jefferson County: $ 0.1 million (CTF)

Other sources: $ 0.3 million

In exchange:

The Parkway Authority would get the right-of-way

The State Land Board would be paid $9.4 million for Section 16 surface and mineral rights

Lafarge would be paid $3.3 million to terminate their extraction leases on Sections 4 and 16.

$2.8 million would go to the to McKays for the mineral rights on Section 9 that would be transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service

The Rocky Flats Refuge would obtain Section 16 surface and mineral rights.

The Refuge would gain the mineral rights to1200 acres, which would allow including these acres within the Refuge.

This agreement left PLAN Jeffco’s Board with a dilemma. Conservation of Section 16 and the other land adjacent to the refuge had been high on our conservation list for many years and this agreement might be the last chance to achieve their preservation. But the price was removing another hurdle for the Parkway. The Board chose not to take a formal position, however, we did actively participate in the NEPA process and seriously questioned the lack of analyses in the Environmental Assessment and absence of an Environmental Impact Statement. Some of the information included in the final decision documents and relied on by the plaintiff’s in their legal challenges was included because of PLAN Jeffco’s efforts.

The original agreement was for the property transfers to close in the summer of 2012. The Town of Superior, City of Golden, and two environmental organizations brought suit taking the position that the Fish and Wildlife Service’s environmental review was not adequate and ignored the potential plutonium contamination, impact on wildlife, and the impacts of the traffic. The closing dates for the property transfers were moved, to by December 31, 2012.

The Federal District court ruled against Golden, Superior and the environmental plaintiffs on December 21, 2012. On December 24th the all the plaintiffs, except Golden, petitioned the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals for an injunction preventing the land transfers and appealed the District Court decision. The injunction was granted on December 26th. However, on December 28th the Appellate Court set the injunction aside. The closings, listed above, took place on December 31st. The Town of Superior and the two environmental organizations’ appeal briefs are due on February 19, 2013.

When Winter Comes: Strategies for Survival

February 20, 2013/in Articles That Educate, Features & Opinions Archive /by planjeffcoadmin

Author: Sally White

Illustrations: Jan Ratcliffe

Date: February 2013

Our world is surprisingly full of animals, even in our heavily developed areas. How does nature ensure that fullness? By paying a large price: excess. This annual tax often comes due in winter. Every student of nature stumbles upon and must come to terms with the necessity for such excess. Charles Darwin once remarked upon the “clumsy, wasteful, blundering, low and horribly cruel works of nature.” Henry David Thoreau sounded a somewhat more optimistic note: “I love to see that Nature is so rife with life that myriads can be afforded to be sacrificed and suffered to prey upon one another.” Whatever we may think of this system, it works.

In the plant world, we find it useful to describe life cycles by their duration. For example, we understand some plants to be annuals that go from seed to seed in a single season, investing all their energy in the next generation. Others are perennials that take several seasons (or decades) to grow, reproduce, and die. The concept is equally useful when applied to animals. Some animals, especially among the insects, could be considered annuals, going from egg to egg in a single season or year. Even those who could live for years用otential perennials熔ften don’t. Winter is one of the reasons for shorter lifespans.

Many insects invest any hopes they have for the future in an egg or pupa that is dormant during the cold months; most butterflies use this approach. Others, for example hornets, go from the abundance of a large “city”葉he paper nest with its thousands of inhabitants葉o a few adult queens, stocked with sperm for the following spring. At least one must make it through winter to begin again. On the average, one does. Ladybird beetles also go through winter as adults, coming together by the thousands each fall to hide in crevices and other sheltered places on mountaintops. For animals large and small, winter success is often a matter of survival of the fattest. Stocking up enough reserve energy to get through the winter is especially important to those who will not look for food again until spring: bears, snakes and lizards, frogs and toads, hibernating ground squirrels, and many more. They sleep, gambling that the fat they’ve stored will last longer than the winter ahead.

Others remain active, using hidden food caches as pine squirrels and scrub jays do, or searching for food all winter as deer and elk do. Stocking up is still important, though. The more energy they’ve been able to store internally during summer’s abundance, the better their chances of finding enough external food sources to get by. Among birds, many escape the rigors of winter by migrating, but there is no escaping the annual tax, and no way the world can hold all the young produced each year. In 1991, volunteers for Hawkwatch International counted a thousand Sharp-shinned hawks migrating over one mountain ridge in Utah; almost 50% were immature birds making their first trip south. Only about 30% of those young birds will live to make the return trip. By our standards, this reflects an oppressive tax indeed; by nature’s standards, it is a necessary one.

Our smallest winter-resident bird, the chickadee, lives all winter on a nutritional and energetic edge. In ten years, Aldo Leopold banded 97 chickadees on his Sand County farm. Only one survived five winters; 67 didn’t make it past their first. But survival isn’t just a lottery; much can depend on the decisions the animals themselves make. Read the chapter on chickadees that ends his Sand County Almanac擁t’s one of his best.

“It seems likely that weather is the only killer so devoid of both humor and dimension as to kill a chickadee….To the chickadee, winter wind is the boundary of the habitable world….Books on nature seldom mention wind; they are written behind stoves.” 輸ldo Leopold

It’s no wonder, then, that animals do whatever they can to reduce the demands winter places on them, to increase their chances of being here come spring. Deer invade your yard to eat fall apples or early spring tulips; mice and squirrels, along with wasps and spiders, invade your house in search of warm spots where their limited stored energy will not be drained by cold. It’s going to be a tough time to be outdoors, and somehow the animals know it. That wasp wedged under the bark in your woodpile may be the queen of a new city; the spider in the corner of your porch could found a new dynasty; the mouse in your basement is the matriarch of next summer’s owl food. All are just doing the job nature assigned them at a time when she’s not about to make that job easy.

Open Space Budget for 2013

February 10, 2013/in Features & Opinions Archive /by planjeffcoadmin

Sales tax revenue for 2013 is projected at 4% more than the actual revenue in 2011. The operating budget remains the same as 2012, plus small increases in cost allocations for County provided services. The budgeting for acquisitions was reduced by $1,000,000 and transferred to development to be used as matching funds for the GOCO Clear Creek grant. The acquisition budget also is reduced by $1,000,000 in 2014 and 2015, in order to have the match for the GOCO grant. Development budgets, other than the Clear Creek trail, were reduced to $340,000 in 2013, $240,000 in 2014, and $200,000 in 2015. Obviously if the sales tax revenue increases by more than the anticipated annual 2%, more will be available for either acquisitions or development. The acquisitions budget for each of these three years is $2.2 million.

Line items in the budget include:

Bond Service $12.94 million

Operations $10.52 million

Acquisitions $2.2 million

Leases $0.06 million

Grants $1.22 million

Development $1.74 million

(Clear Creek $1.4 million)

(Misc $0.34 million)

Total $28.88 million

Note that the only major development planned in 2013 relates to the Clear Creek Trail. Some 2012 projects will be completed in 2013 using funds budgeted in 2012. These include natural surface trail from Reynolds Park to the Colorado Trail; a restroom at the Elk Meadow Dog Off-Leash Park; trailhead, parking lot, and restroom at the Quaker Street entry to South Table Mountain; complete improvements at Crown Hill; trailhead, parking lot, and restroom at Apex; restrooms at Matthews Winters, Mt Falcon west, and Windy Saddle; and water well at the White Ranch campground.

The bond payments will remain at $13 million through 2019, in 2020 about $6 million more becomes available. JCOS has a goal is to find $5 million in grants to supplement the budget during the next three years.

PLAN Jeffco’s 40th Anniversary & Fundraiser

December 2, 2012/in Features & Opinions Archive /by planjeffcoadmin

Date: December 2, 2012

Location: 240 Union: A Creative Grille, Lakewood, CO

ANNIVERSARY BASH BEST EVER, TAKE OVER 240 UNION FOR THE NIGHT!

It’s a rare occasion when so many supporters of Jefferson County Open Space come together in friendship and celebration, but that’s what happened at PLAN Jeffco’s 40th Anniversary Dinner & Fund-raiser. That Sunday evening, December the 2nd, saw this gathering at the 240 Union Restaurant in Lakewood. Aptly named, that night the restaurant played host to some 220 people, all of whom had come to celebrate 40 years of open space preservation in Jefferson County, and to hear the keynote speaker, Ed Bangs, talk about his 22 years of experiences as the Northern Rockies Wolf Reintroduction coordinator.

At the door, ready to greet revelers as they signed in and collected their name badges, were PLAN Jeffco long-timers and Board Members Bette & David Seeland, Ann Bonnell, and John Litz. Just around the corner, Don Moore was sharing space with “Save the Mesas” at the information and membership signup table.

Past and current members of the Open Space Advisory Committee were present to help celebrate the occasion, as were many members of the JeffCo Open Space Staff. Greg Stevinson, past Chair of OSAC, and under whose guidance the acreage of Open Space grew to over 50,000 acres. Greg (seen here on the right, with Richard Zallen) has been a significant contributor to PLAN Jeffco’s efforts, and we were pleased that he was present to celebrate this, our significant anniversary.

PLAN Jeffco 40th Anniversary Event Dec 2, 2012

Renowned wolf expert Ed Bangs discusses the human facination with wolves and the restoration of wolves around the country.

Wolf biologists Ed Bangs (center) and Mike Jimenez with helicopter pilot Bob Hawkins capture, sedate and radio tag wolves in Wyoming.

Wolf Expert Ed Bangs Keynote Speaker

Ed Bangs was the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Gray Wolf Recovery Coordinator for the northwestern United States for more than 23 years until his retirement in 2011. Prior to his position as the Gray Wolf Recovery Coordinator, Ed worked on a variety of wildlife programs on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. His programs included wolf, lynx, brown and black bear, wolverine, marten, coyote, moose, bald eagle and trumpeter swan management and research, reintroduction of caribou, and land-use planning and management.

He was involved with the recovery and management of wolves in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming beginning in 1988. He led the interagency program to plan, conduct public outreach, and reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in the mid-1990s. “I’ve been fortunate with opportunities to examine wolf and human relationships in many other parts of the world as well, including Mongolia, Sweden, England, Japan, Italy, Spain and Africa,” explains Ed.

Well published, Ed has more than 120 scientific and popular articles to his credit on a wide variety of wildlife management issues. He has given hundreds of professional and public presentations and conducted thousands of media interviews. Ed has been recognized with numerous awards, including the U.S. Dept. of Interior Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Awards, Letter of Commendation from U.S. Department of Justice, and Distinguished Alumni Award from Utah State University, his Alma Mater. Professionally, he is still focused on human values, conflict resolution in wildlife management, and the restoration of ecological processes. On the personal front, Ed enjoys spending time with his two daughters, staying fit, bow hunting, wildlands, food, wine, dancing, travel, scuba, literature, the Arts and oceans.

Photos

It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so in the interest of space and time, we’re going to let these pictures tell their own story:

PLAN Jeffco long-timers and Board Members Ann Bonnell, and John Litz greet people at the door.		JeffCo Open Space Staff Greg Stevinson, past Chair of OSAC, and under whose guidance the acreage of Open Space grew to over 50,000 acres. On the right is Richard Zallen.

CEAVCO technicians worked all afternoon to make 240 Union ready for the evening event.		The 240 Union staff set up the entire restaurant for the event, complete with Christmas-themed decorations.

Bette Seeland and Ken Foelske register Pat Keller at the door, with John Litz looking on.		The Silent Auction room was set up for easy browsing of all the artwork and fun stuff.

Ralph Schell (former Director of Open Space & current County Administrator), Casey Tighe (recently elected to the Board of County Commissioners) and wife Laura, and Tom Hoby (current Director of Parks & Open Space) gather for a photo in 240 Union’s famous Wine Room.		Some of the offerings in the Silent Auction room elicited vigorous bidding.

Michelle Poolet, PJ Board member, takes a break and samples the excellent food and wine – at 240 Union, we expected no less!		Families and interest groups were able to reserve entire tables for the event, thus ensuring good seating and a good view of the evening speakers.

The Silent Auction closed after dinner; Vera had to remind everyone to get their final bid in, or lose out on that precious what-not.		Margot Zallen, chief PJ’er told the history of our team.

		Ed Bangs was, for 22 years, the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Grey Wolf Recovery Coordinator for the northwestern US. He was involved with the recovery and management of wolves in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming beginning in 1988. He led the interagency program to plan, conduct public outreach, and reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in the mid-1990s. Read more about Ed in the High Country News.

Ed talks with Bruce Rosenlund about aspects of his work.		We say as we raise a glass to wish you all that is right. Thank you so much for your support!

PLAN Jeffco 40th Anniversary Presentation

by PLAN Jeffco Chairperson,
Margot Zallen

If you are unable to view content in the frame below,
click to view: Margot Zallen’s Presentation (PDF)

Welcome to PLAN Jeffco’s 40th Anniversary Celebration. I am Margot Zallen, Chairperson of PLAN Jeffco. We, in PLAN Jeffco, owe a very special thanks to our sponsors, 240 Union, Greg Stevinson and all those who contributed to our silent auction.

With us today are many of those ordinary citizens who joined together in 1972 to do something extraordinary—convince the voters of Jefferson County to tax themselves so we could conserve fast disappearing open spaces.

All of those who are founding Plan Jeffco members please stand. Did you know that that our little ½ percent tax has brought in ¾ of a billion dollars since 1972, with $240 million going directly to the cities and over $500 million going to Jefferson County? And the best part is that over 53,000 acres of land has been preserved with over 200 miles of trails constructed. Thank you all.

There are others to be acknowledged. Please stand when I call your name. But hold any applause until after the introductions. Joining us today are Faye Griffin and Don Rosier, our County Commissioners, Ralph Schell, the County Administrator and former Open Space Program Director, Ellen Wakeman, County Attorney, Tom Hoby, Director of the Open Space Program, and his staff, former Program Director Ray Prinz, current and former Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC) members, Pete Roybal, Lakewood City Council, Marjorie Sloan, the Mayor of Golden, Golden City Councilwomen Marcie Miller and Saoirse Charis-Graves and Casey Tighe, our newly elected Commissioner.

PLAN Jeffco’s formation began in 1971 after a League of Woman Voters study concluded that the best way to conserve those fast disappearing open lands was for the county to buy them and to conserve them. Carol Karlin and Mike Moore began organizing us in the fall of 1971. P J was incorporated in March, 1972.

We had a lot to do, write a resolution for a ballot issue that not only would fund acquisitions but would set the rules for their permanent protection, would convince conservative commissioners to put a tax increase on the ballot and establish OSAC, the Open Space Advisory Committee, with its citizen representatives and to sell the idea to the voters. Eventually, with the help of hundreds of high school students we doorbelled 96% of the county with this brochure (slide #5) and 55% of the voters said YES to their new tax.

We helped Jefferson County get the program started and then hibernated until 1978 when 3 ballot issues to revise the original Open Space Resolution that we believed were harmful to the program were approved to go to the voters. PLAN Jeffco was not able stop those issues from getting on the ballot. But the voters agreed with us and rejected all three.

Then in 1980, after the county settled a federal lawsuit on unconstitutional conditions at the old jail, the county decided to sell the voters on the idea of taking ½ of the Open Space revenues to build a new jail. PLAN Jeffco really organized to defeat this and two other ballot issues.

The county sued some of us personally for requesting the county to tell both sides of the of the story when promoting the jail issue. PLAN Jeffco counter sued and the court eventually agreed with us. The jail issue failed and the hard feelings it generated between PLAN Jeffco and Jefferson County remained for several years.

The one ballot issue that was approved in 1980 allowed the Open Space funds to be used for “recreational capital improvements”. This new authority led to Jefferson County deciding to build and manage an active recreational program at Clement Park. The recreation districts went ballistic over the county going into the recreational business. At the same time there was a big controversy over a request for Open Space funds to be used to build a cultural center/theater on the existing Open Space lands at Elk Meadow Park in Evergreen, which PLAN Jeffco strongly opposed. To resolve this Pandora’s Box dilemma regarding how Jefferson County should exercise it new authority to spend funds for “recreational capital improvements”, we went to the County Commissioners and asked them to form an ad hoc group to deal with these issues. A facilitator from Keystone met with a group of us, including representatives from the cities, recreation districts, Westernaires, and others for over a year. The ad hoc group agreed on a set of recommendations which were accepted by the County Commissioners, who told us that these saved the program.

Based on the committee’s recommendations, Jefferson County agreed to not to get into the park and recreation business, to focus on land acquisition and to create a joint venture program that has provided over $50 million in grants or matching funds to the cities and recreation districts. These helped fund projects like the Wheat Ridge Recreation Center and the Evergreen Lake House.

In the 1980’s the savings and loan crisis resulted in scores of developers offering to sell their land and many worthy purchases were made, like Apex Park. But there was no overall plan or set of priorities. So PLAN Jeffco did what it has frequently done, held a workshop attended by some OSAC members. They were impressed with the results and held their own workshop which led to the famous Black Book which identified five scenic acquisition priorities, Bear Creek Canyon, Clear Creek Canyon, the north and central mountain backdrop and North Table Mountain and five natural area priority areas: Ralston Buttes, Centennial Cone, Cathedral Spires, Dear Creek at the Hogback and Ralston Creek. These priority lands have almost all been acquired. The Black Book also contains plans for mile of trails to be constructed.

In 1992 PLAN Jeffco formally proposed that all of Clear Creek Canyon be purchased, the first time citizens asked Jefferson County Open Space to buy a specific parcel. Although, staff complained that there were too many owners to deal with, this initiative was approved by OSAC and the County Commissioners.

The final result is that all but one piece at the mouth of the Clear Creek Canyon is now conserved. But this did not happen until PLAN Jeffco and others successfully fought against the Goltra quarry proposed for the north side of the canyon. This was one of our many successful cooperative efforts.

In 1992, another cooperative effort prevented a land trade proposed by Western Mobile for Open Space land near the quarry at Heritage Square for its land on North Table Mountain. Ten years later new owners came back with a better trade which PLAN Jeffco helped negotiate. That resulted in Jefferson County Open Space acquiring 400 acres on North Table Mountain which is almost all of the undeveloped land on the mesa.

In 2005, while Open Space staff was working on the plans for trails for North Table Mountain, bikers and preservationists were hotly disputing the future use of North Table Mountain which contains valuable native grass lands. PLAN Jeffco intervened, formed a “team of rivals” with bikers, hikers, equestrians, wildlife biologist, native plant expert, and an Open Space staff person. We had scientific studies carried out and met several times a month for over a year. All this to develop a proposal for OSAC. Most of which was adopted.

In 2000, Plan Jeffco proposed another large land conservation initiative which was accepted. That initiative called for the conservation of the Rocky Flats ecosystem because of its wonderful scenic and natural values. Our latest related effort was PLAN Jeffco’s 2011 involvement in the NEPA process relating to disposal of a strip of land on the east side of the Rocky Flats Refuge for a tollway.

PLAN Jeffco also joined in the successful fight against NIKE’s plans for building on top of South Table Mountain and joined in the effort to finally conserve those lands.

We were not as successful in our joint efforts to prevent the super tower on Lookout Mountain.

In the late 1990’s, realizing that land prices were skyrocketing, interest rates were plummeting and key lands were again threatened, PLAN Jeffco held another workshop. The solution we proposed was for the county to issue bonds to provide additional funds immediately for Open Space acquisitions. The two County Commissioners in attendance were very concerned about borrowing money. One of them told me that they are Republicans and we don’t borrow. But after seeing how this could be achieved, they agreed this was a good idea. And the SOS bond campaign was born. Many of us in this room can claim credit for more than 73% of voters finally voting yes to approve the bond issue. It was very clear that Jefferson County Open Space program is now sacred to the overwhelming majority of our citizens.

When some again began to question the economic impact of taking all these Open Space lands off the tax roles, PLAN Jeffco convened a conference focusing on this issue. Our many speakers from John Crompton, a professor at Texas AM, from the Jefferson Economic Council, the Colorado Land Trust and others, all concluded that the Open Space program and its land conservation was a powerful economic benefit to the county.

I am going to end this retrospective and turn to PLAN Jeffco’s focus for the next 40 years:

ACQUISITION—The concerns that drove the PLAN Jeffco to be created in 1972 are even more evident today. We need to continue to focus on acquiring more of what remains of our open lands, finding willing sellers and encouraging new developments to focus on areas near light rail and in rejuvenating the decaying areas in our cities. And of course there is the 4,700 acres at the mouth of Clear Creek Canyon that must be purchased to finish the conservation of this awe inspiring canyon. (slide #35)

PURSUE ADDITIONAL FUNDING—More funding is needed, especially during the next 9 years while the SOS bonds are still being paid off. We will continue to support the Open Space Programs requests for GOCO and other grants. We encourage the creation of a revolving fund to help local land trusts pay the upfront costs of conservation easements. These easements are conserving many undeveloped parcels in both the cities and mountain areas. And in 9 years we may again be looking at another bond campaign. (slide #36)

WORK WITH PARTNERS—Of course we will continue to work with the County Commissioners and the Jeffco Open Space Program as we have historically. We will continue to work with local land trusts, such as MALT, CCLC and others. And when the next NIKE or Goltra quarry is proposed we’ll be there to join with other groups in opposition. (slide #37)

CONTINUED PROTECTION—It is essential to pass on the land conservation ethic to the next generations. None of us want voters in 2042 to be presented with a ballot issue to sell some of our Open Space lands or to eliminate the Jefferson County Open Space Program because it’s cheaper to build on undeveloped land. (slide #38)

We all know that kids and their families are often too busy going from soccer, to Little League, to gymnastics and when at home kids spend more time on their computers that then spend sleeping. Getting diverse families and their kids into the outdoors and having fun doing it, is how many experts believe is the way to foster a continued land conservation ethic. To this end we are working with Denver Mountain Parks, Open Space, GOCO, and the Jefferson County Open Space Foundation to raise $100,000 to increase outdoor use by kids and their families. You’ll be hearing more about this later this winter.

Let me show you what could have happened and what could happen.

Just think of the real past and future threats to our hogbacks. Instead of being part of our scenically valued foreground, they just as easily could be gravel pits. (slide #39-40) This could have been or could become the fate of the Table Mountains and any of our mountain canyons.

Just think what a good spot Elk Meadow is for a new Walmart and for homes conveniently to be built behind this new shopping center. (slide #41-42)

Just think about how centrally located Crown Hill Park is and how convenient it would be for a shopping center. (slide #43-44)

And last think about the great views that condo owners would get if they could build up the slopes of our mountain backdrop. Just think of all the property taxes all these developments on our open space lands would generate. (slide #45-46)

We can’t let this happen and that’s why PLAN Jeffco is going to stick around for the next 40 years. We encourage you to not only join PLAN Jeffco but to work with us. Come to our board meetings held the 4th Thursday evening of every month. Go to our web site, www.planjeffco.org to find out more.

Now to our key note speaker, Ed Bangs, a world renowned expert on grey wolves, their biology, their habitat, and the love/hate relationship that we humans have with this charismatic mega fauna. Ed was the Grey Wolf Recovery Coordinator in Western U.S. for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 23 years and was intimately involved in the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park and Central Utah. His work during and since the reintroductions resulted in the eventual recovery of this population of wolves which by the 1930’s had been purposefully eliminated. Enough of me talking about my former clients, Ed and the wolves. Let’s welcome Ed Bangs.

Life After Life

October 2, 2012/in Articles That Educate, Features & Opinions Archive /by planjeffcoadmin

Hidden within our soils are a host of organisms engaged in decomposition, that deconstruction project without which life on Earth would long since have disappeared. As with other ecological systems, this one is an iceberg: The part we can’t see is far bigger and more complex than the small fragments that intrude into our everyday lives. Most of the time, then, we are able to remain blissfully unaware of where everyone’s next meal is coming from. We may be able to talk comfortably about the water cycle, despite the probability of eventually drinking “Cleopatra’s bathwater,” but most of us would rather not examine the nutrient cycle too closely. Perhaps the Halloween season is a good time to talk a bit about the fate that awaits us all, humans, mice, and pine trees alike. Though some may say “we’re a long time dead,” the truth is that, sooner or later, reincarnation is a virtual certainty. We’re not immortal, but the chemicals within us are.

Most of the critters that carry out the phases of decomposition spend much of their lives in soil or in the litter layer that often covers it. The first steps, of course, are occasionally carried out by larger organisms, like mice and squirrels and cows, who eat plant materials and then deposit the indigestible portions on the ground. In the global cycle, that’s only an optional side trip for carbon and nitrogen—most of the organic material tied up in plants, even in the hugest redwoods, will be released by much smaller organisms, those we tend to dismiss as insignificant.

Only in size can we easily dismiss them, for soil life is diverse and abundant. In a good season, one prairie acre might harbor two billion microarthropods (such as mites and springtails), as many as five million earthworms, and 200,000 millipedes. A host of insects and macroarthropods, such as fly larvae, termites, pillbugs, and crickets, also participate in decomposition. Outnumbering them all would be the nematodes, or roundworms: At 22 billion per acre, they are among the most abundant organisms on the planet, and are found in pretty much everything and everybody. In the prairie environment, almost half of the nematodes feed on fungi, which are also abundant soil inhabitants, along with the couple of tons of bacteria also present.

A forest ecosystem, of course, is equally dependent on those tiny soil inhabitants, and some forests produce enough organic matter to support even larger populations of such critters. In our dry forests, decomposition is far less obvious than in the moister forests across the great divide. It may go on more slowly, but still it must go on. It may have to hide, literally, from the light of day, but this is one process that works just fine in the dark. Unless we go looking for evidence of decomposition, sifting through leaves and litter or kicking open rotting logs, we will rarely see this process in action.

When conditions are just right, with cool weather and a little moisture, the last participants in the decomposition process begin to “flower,” reminding us of this unsuspected underground world. Suddenly, often overnight, mushrooms appear in our meadows and forests. Their forms are as varied as their cryptic lifestyles, and we often name them for their underworld associations: Destroying Angel, Jack-o’-lantern, Devil’s Snuffbox, Witches’ Butter, Dead Men’s Fingers are all names that remind us Halloween is approaching. And all are the tips of their own respective icebergs, appearing above ground to spread their spores, ensuring that nowhere on Earth will dead things go undecomposed. If one Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea) can produce seven trillion spores, few acres will miss receiving their fair complement.

The real decomposition work, however, is being done by the mycelium, a webby mass of underground strands, called hyphae, that makes up the body of the fungus and occasionally produces the “fruit” we see. Some mycelia are annuals that grow from a single spore each year and die after one season. In contrast, other fungi form “fairy rings,” whose fantasy name reflects our attempt to explain their mysterious origin. Whether produced by deadly Amanita or delicate Marasmius, the rings are formed by the outward growth of mycelia that live year after year and form mushrooms only where they are actively growing. Fairy rings have been found in Colorado that may have taken more than 500 years to develop.

Puffballs spread their spores on the wind, as our child-selves know, but some mushrooms depend on animals to consume the tempting fruits and spread the spores; the stinkhorns even attract flies for that purpose. Slugs, mice, turtles, and squirrels, as well as deer and cattle, will eat these seasonal temptations when they can. We humans are also attracted by the culinary qualities of many species of mushrooms, and by the exotic substances (hallucinogenic or merely deadly) produced by others. The economic importance of edible mushrooms and the yeasts who bring us beer and bread is offset a bit by the financial havoc wrought by the many fungi that cause tree and crop diseases. In the end, however, both of these aspects pale in comparison to the service soil fungi provide us by assuring the final chemical breakdown of organic matter into its constituent minerals. Without the help of these fungi and other decomposers, the continual recycling of life from one form to another would end, and the wheels of chemical reincarnation would stop turning forever.

PLAN Jeffco ~ Looking Forward to Another 40 Years

October 2, 2012/in Features & Opinions Archive /by planjeffcoadmin

Continued stewardship of our open spaces cannot be taken for granted. PLAN Jeffco remains committed to its mission: ensuring that future citizens can enjoy the same quality of life and rich outdoor experiences that we do today, and that the value of open space lands is not forgotten or disregarded in exchange for short term gains.

Today, as the result of our fourdecade-long commitment to conserving open spaces, along with the community’s strong support and continued investment, we now enjoy a great variety of benefits. We all can be proud of the over 53,000 acres of lands that have been conserved in Jefferson County—the hundreds of miles of trails for all of us to enjoy, and that much of our treasured views, natural areas and wildlife are conserved.

PLAN Jeffco was formed by citizens concerned that open spaces would quickly vanish within the decade. In 1972, we initiated and campaigned for the ballot issue that provided for the ½ cent Open Space sales tax, which has funded our award winning Jefferson County Open Space program and provided millions of dollars to the cities and recreation districts.

Open Space Citizen Survey

July 2, 2012/in Features & Opinions Archive /by planjeffcoadmin

In the Fall of 2011, the Open Space Department funded a scientific survey to gather public feedback on Jefferson County Open Space Parks. The survey covered usage characteristics of parks, trails and other facilities, community values with respect to open space, satisfaction with current facilities and the importance of various park features, views on park and trail management, and communication. This feedback and subsequent analysis was designed to assist Jefferson County Open Space in future planning and policy formulation efforts.

A total of 10,000 surveys were mailed to a random sample of Jefferson County residents in early October 2011, with 9,990 being delivered after subtracting undeliverable mail. The final sample size for this statistically valid survey was 1,345, resulting in a response rate of 13.5 percent giving a margin of error of approximately +/- 2.7 percentage points. A detailed summary of the survey is posted on the Open Space Website – the URL is: jeffco.us/parks/documents/2011-jeffco-open-space-citizen-survey/

Jefferson County Open Space 2011 Citizen Survey, 2011 Respondents were almost equally divided female (52%) and male (48%). The random survey was targeted at residents 18 years and older. The age profile of responses is virtually identical to the County as a whole. The average age of respondents was 47 years. The average respondent had lived in Jefferson County for 19.6 years. About 24% of respondents had lived in the County less than five years.

The questionnaire contained a question designed to determine “household status” or the makeup of the family unit. About 28% of respondents reported that they are single. About 72% are couples, with 34% reporting that they are couples with children at home. Open Space use by children was 90% on family outings, 50% with friends, 35% with school groups, and 19% with youth organizations.

The results suggest that about 83% of County residents visited the Open Space Parks at least once each year. The most visited parks, by 10-11% of the residents, are Crown Hill, Lair o’ the Bear and Deer Creek Canyon parks. The results are similar for children’s activities and use with Lair o’ the Bear 20%, Deer Creek Canyon Park 13%, Apex 13%, Mount Falcon 12%, and Elk Meadow 11%.

The typical uses of open space were hiking/walking (87%) and hiking/walking with dogs (46%), enjoying the scenery (59%), wildlife viewing (40%), picnicking (33%) and mountain biking (29%). Most frequent uses were hiking/walking (45%) and hiking/walking with dogs (23%) mountain biking (10%) and running (4%).

About 95% of the respondents to “What is the greatest value of Open Space?” supported “Assurance that open space will be there for future generations” and “Outdoor recreation in a natural setting close to home.” Close to home was most important with similar ratings for respondents in older (over 40 years) and younger age groups.

Respondents to a question on how Open Space funds should be spent: Acquisitions was most important with 68% priority, 22% for protection of the land, 15% for recreation, 13% scenic, 9% for land preservation, and 9% for trail corridors. Capital improvements priorities were: 11% for capital improvements, 6% renovation of historic structures, and 4% for regional (off park) trails. Support was equal for preservation vs. recreation.

Support was even for designating trails for single and multiple use trails 56-58%, with high opposition to single use parks or alternate day use.

Positive response to “Friendliness and manners of other visitors” was 68%. Higher positive response was shown by both trail runners (78%) and mountain bikers (73%).

Comments by responders filled 280 pages.