Connection Ecology

2008-02-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

Connection Ecology offers a constructive alternative to environmental protection efforts based on "separation ecology" principles that are increasingly denying humans access to natural areas. By contrast Connection Ecology promotes environmentally responsible access and, with it, human quality of life.

About the Connection Ecology Blog

2008-02-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

This Connection Ecology blog, which is a successor to the earlier ConnectionEcology.org website, is the product of a half century spent in wild places of the American West. It reflects my deep belief that current, environmental efforts to protect the environment by increasingly limiting human visitation is a great mistake. This is leading to the progressive erosion in of the quality of the experiences that people have in wild places. This, in turn, undermines human quality of life in ways which threaten the long-term sustainability of a broad range of environmental protection measures by removing much of the stake that people have an environmental protection. This site contains a broad array of materials that I've written over the years to combat this trend and promote what I call "connection ecology" – a strategy which simultaneously pursues environmental protection and human quality- of-life objectives. In addition to materials designed to address wildland management issues, I have also included information about great hikes and tips about how to get the most out of your wilderness excursions.

Guy Burgess

Nature Recreation Declining Sharply

2008-02-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

Nature recreation worldwide — from camping, hunting and fishing to park visitation — has declined sharply since the 1980s, and the negative consequences for nature and conservation could soon be profound, says a new study sponsored by The Nature Conservancy.

The study examines data from the United States, Japan and Spain on everything from backpacking to duck hunting. It builds upon earlier Conservancy-funded studies by Oliver Pergams of the University of Illinois-Chicago and Patricia Zaradic of the Environmental Leadership Program that correlated a decline in visits to U.S. National Parks with an increase in television, video game and Internet use.

Nature.org talked with Pergams and Zaradic about their latest study — and whether their findings mean that people no longer care about nature.

Nature.org: Has the trend away from nature recreation been accelerating worldwide since it began in 1981, or has it been a steady decline?

Oliver Pergams and Patricia Zaradic: The decline in some nature use seems to be accelerating, such as U.S. state park and national forest visits, as well as fishing. Others show a more steady decline, such as U.S. and Japanese national park visits and U.S. Bureau of Public Lands visits.

Most reliable long-term per capita visitation measures of nature recreation peaked between 1981 and 1991. They've declined about 1.2 percent per year since then, and have declined a total of between 18 percent and 25 percent.

Nature.org: Hunting, camping and fishing activity all declined during this period — but hiking and backpacking went up. So can't we just say that people are switching to daytrips for their natural encounters?

Pergams and Zaradic: No, the increase in hiking is just a very small countertrend. The average person went from hiking once every 12½ years to hiking once every 10 years.

On the other hand, the average U.S. person visits a state park two or three times every single year. The large decreases in more popular activities like state park visits far outweigh the small increase in hiking.

http://www.nature.org/tncscience/misc/art23800.html

Connection Ecology: An Alternative to the War Between the Human and Natural Environments

2007-08-01T10:26:00.000-06:00

Topic: Environmental Policy
Preserving the spirit of the West, in the face of rapid and continuing population growth, requires the building of the deep connections between the people and the land that they inhabit. Rather than lamenting, we should celebrate increasing human visits to natural areas because of the role that such visits play in maintaining the West's unique quality of life and the environmental protection constituency. The challenge is to develop and implement environmentally sound strategies for meeting the need for quality visitor experiences.

The focus of efforts to meet this challenge is, of necessity, the boundary which divides the West's natural areas from its rapidly growing urban population. It is here where most of the pressure for human visitation occurs and where the greatest opportunities exist for building or breaking human/environmental connections. In Colorado, these pressures are felt most acutely along the major intermountain highways and in the foothills to the west of metropolitan Denver and other "Front Range" cities. It is for places like this (as well as the West's great national parks and wilderness areas) that the Connection Ecology project has been working to develop planning tools for better balancing human and environmental interests.

Contents As of July 11, 2007

2007-07-28T14:12:00.000-06:00

Connection Ecology

About the Connection Ecology Blog

Connection Ecology: An Alternative to the War Betw...

Scarlet tanager causing red alert

Comment on Trail 13-14 Planning Eldorado Mountain

Comments on Dowdy Draw / Flatirons Vista Parking

Bald Eagles, Thriving, Settle Into Suburban Life

Forest Service Bars Ski Film

Dinosaur Tracks, What Are They For?

It's "Both/And" NOT "Either/Or"

OSMP Off-Trail Permits Now Required for 50 Yard Hi...

Sustainable Environmentalism

No Child Left Inside

Understanding the Visitor Role in the Spread of In...

Connection Ecology Blog Contents

Connection Ecology: The Next Phase of the Environm...

General Principles Underlying Boulder Outdoor Coal...

Adaptive Management

Environmental Damage / Human Presence

Environmental Constituency

US 36 Dispute Reveals OSMP Anti-people Bias

Equitable Access Problems

Research to "finds out" vs. research to "prove"

Eldorado Mountain / Dowdy Draw

Natural / Human History Destination Hikes

Ecology Hikes

Inspirational Viewpoints

Natural / Human History Destination Hikes

Demonstration Project Maps / Legend

Proposed Marshall Mesa Interpretive Trail

Fewer happy campers

Where Gorillas and the Antelope Play

National parks seeing fewer camping visits

The “Social Trail” Problem: Myth or Reality?

Role of Urban Wilderness

Obligation to Provide Visitor Access

Facts and Values

The Overprotective Librarian Syndrome

Visitor Pathway / Trail Types

Cohabitation

Role of Urban Wilderness

Unconventional Environmental Connections

User Fees / Sweat Equity Option

Contents

Definition

An Alternative to the War Between the Human and Natural Environments

Sustainable Environmentalism

The Next Phase of the Environmental Movement?

Original Connection Ecology Site

Off-Trail Visitation -- The Path Less Traveled By...

2007-07-21T17:04:00.000-06:00

Increasingly, it is being argued that off-trail travel in natural areas is so destructive that it should always be prohibited. With respect to the draft Boulder OSMP Visitor Plan such proposed ban raises a number of questions.

What exactly constitutes a trail?
Are visitors to be exclusively limited to trails marked on the current edition of the official map?
What about constructed, maintained, and heavily used secondary trails which are not on the map? The unmapped First/Second Flatiron trail, for example? Or, the Eldorado Springs to Shadow Canyon Trail?
What about informal neighborhood access trails such as those in the Devil’s Thumb area? Are they to be closed to everyone? Everyone but neighbors and others "in the
know"?
What about rock climbers? The vast majority of rock climbing routes are not accessible official trails.
What about photography and painting? Are artists to be restricted to the trails?
How about "birders" or others engaged in nature study, geological exploration, or historical inquiry?
What about folks who just want to sit and enjoy the many viewpoints found just a short distance off the official trails?
What about visitors whose drive for solitude leads them to seek more private spots away from other visitors?
What about people who just want to go exploring in an environmentally considerate way? (See Leave No Trace guidelines for off-trail travel below.)
What limits are to be placed on off-trail travel for management and research purposes?
Are there risks that people will take advantage of the visitation "vacuum" and engage in
inappropriate activities (squatter's camps, for example) which would otherwise be reported and addressed?
How will all of this be enforced? Will rangers be paid to routinely travel off trail to catch visitors who may be traveling off trail? Would this increase or decrease use?
Will "big brother" enforcement become a source of resentment and hostility toward OSMP?
Will such a ban leave OSMP open to the charge of converting "open space" to "closed space?"

All this raises a few more fundamental questions:

What are the real environmental benefits that a closure policy would seek to achieve?
Are the problems largely confined to heavily visited areas with braided trails, unsightly shortcuts, widespread vegetation trampling, and erosion in steep areas?
Might these problems be better addressed through area specific measures such as social trail closure signs, shortcutting barriers, and cairned routes in steep areas (see below)?

Guidelines for Off-Trail Travel

One of the most sought-after pleasures of natural areas is the opportunity for quiet, solitude, adventure, and exploration. The days are gone when minimal population pressures make this goal easy to achieve. We have reached a point where (apart from cold and stormy times) the trails are full of people. Still solitary experiences continue to be available to anyone who wants to leave the trails. Still, off-trail travel presents an undeniable risk of environmental damage. The key to preserving options for solitary visitation is an expansion of the "leave no trace" ethic to include off-trail travel guidelines. The guidelines suggested below are based on the adaptation of the backcountry travel rules used in Arch's National Park to our local ecosystem. Here again the basic principle is simple, "leave no trace" apart, perhaps, for a few temporary footprints.

1. Don't call attention to yourself in ways which detract from the experiences of others.
2. Don't approach or harass wildlife.
3. Take established trails wherever possible. If you don't have a reason to leave the trail, don't.
4. Don't cut switchbacks and don't take braided trails which closely parallel existing trails.
5. Travel in small groups. Large groups can create new paths with astonishing speed.
6. If possible, stick to routes which are free of natural vegetation -- generally rock outcroppings, boulder fields, rocky slopes with plenty of stepping stones, and woodlands with minimal groundcover.
7. Avoid stepping on flowering plants at all stages of the reproductive cycle from developing flowers to mature seedpods.
8. Take well-developed game trails where available.
9. Don't walk in areas were the vegetation appears worn or weakened (especially incipient social trails).
10. Avoid times when the land is especially wet, muddy, and vulnerable.
11. Obviously, no smoking or fires.
12. Pick up any litter you find, you are traveling in areas which are not commonly patrolled.
13. Report destructive, hidden behavior (generally illegal camp sites with fires which threaten the park).
14. If you are breaking twigs, dislodging plants, or are kicking loose rocks and soil you should find a gentler route.

Steep Area Erosion Control
Perhaps the area's greatest environmental damage from existing visitor use is in steep, rock climber access areas not served by existing trails. In these areas the lack of a clearly defined route has led to a proliferation of braided, social trails as everyone tries to pick their own path through the complex terrain. Given the steepness of the terrain, it is easy for minor amounts of traffic to produce significant erosion problems. In these areas the use of cairns to identify the easiest and most environmentally sound route can dramatically reduce impacts while still providing access for rock climbers and others wanting a more challenging experience. The same technique could be used to inexpensively construct the many spur/viewpoint trails proposed here. It could also be used to construct the proposed Eldorado Mountain, and West Flagstaff trails.

Scarlet tanager causing red alert

2007-07-21T11:29:00.000-06:00

This is a rare example of a much more constructive way to respond to rare wildlife in the Boulder area. Instead of closing the area, find a way to let people enjoy and appreciate something special. -- Guy Burgess

Rare bird making home in Boulder

Joe Prentice Camera Staff Writer
Friday, July 13, 2007

Bill Schmoker

The scarlet tanager usually doesn’t visit Boulder County, but one has taken up residence in Gregory Canyon.

Bill Schmoker

The western tanager is the most common tanager in the region.

You've seen them around town. Visitors from afar, moseying about in brightly colored summer garb.

No, it's not Auntie Maude and Uncle Merle from Muskegon meandering on the mall. We're talking about tourists of the avian sort.

This summer, a spectacular wanderer from the East is causing a buzz among local birders. A male scarlet tanager has taken up residence in Gregory Canyon and has been seen regularly since at least the middle of June.

Tanagers are a group of vividly colored birds found mostly in South and Central America. There are about 250 species in the family Thraupidae (tanagers and their allies), but the taxonomy of the group is the subject of debate. For example, some argue the four members of the family that migrate regularly to the United States should more properly be grouped with the Cardinalidae (cardinals and related finches).

To read the rest of this article click here

Comments on Trail 13, 14 Planning Eldorado Mountain

2007-07-20T11:35:00.000-06:00

This is a comment on your Trail 13/14 EM/DD TSA planning process that I would like entered into the official record.

First, I would like to thank the Open Space and Mountain Parks Department for arranging another one of its trail alignment, walk-through, field trips. I think that this is a vastly preferable way of gathering public input — one that could also be applied to other, more general policy discussions. The advantage of this process is that it permits and encourages multiple in-depth conversations and gets us out of the public meeting trap of simply exchanging "zinger" sound bites. In the course of a couple hours of walking together you learn a lot more about each other's views, a lot more about what you have in common, and the real nature of your disagreements. While agreement will certainly still be quite elusive, I think that this process focuses the debate much for more sharply on the real issues.

I don't think that you need to exactly walk the trail alignment, however. As you know, in the absence of a trail, these routes can be difficult going for many people. I think that you could get the same sort of in-depth feel for alternative trail alignments by allowing people avoid difficult and an environmentally damaging sections by taking detours which lead people to key viewpoints where they easily see the lines of flagging that mark the proposed trail alignment. Still, I think it's a good idea to walk the trail alignment wherever possible.

In terms of the general alignment for the new trail, I favor the eastern, #14 upper, "through the trees" option followed by the western, #13 lower, option across the wide open mesa top with big views. On some of the long sidehills it may, however, be appropriate to move the trail further up the slope to reduce exposure to the ultra mud of the Pierre Shale.

As I've argued many times before, I think that it's also important to include, at key spots along the trail, inspirational sitting points (with perhaps with strategically repositioned logs or sitting rocks) that would encourage people to sit for a moment and reflect upon and enjoy the area.

I also think that you need to add, on this trail (and other points around the entire OSMP system system) interpretive signs focused on helping people understand the magic of the place. While "don't do this" signs are, of course, needed, the focus of the interpretive signs I'm proposing would be much more positive and could play a critical role in helping people appreciate the poorly understood prairie (and, to a lesser extent, forest) ecosystems. In order to keep costs and visual clutter down, I think you could use very simple and small signs with numbers indicating that there's something interesting here and that you can find out what it is by downloading a brochure from the OSMP website (or picking on up at the trailhead.

A big topic of conversation on the field trip was the assertion that there were terrible environmental impacts associated with just about every option. While I'm all for limiting these impacts as much as possible, I think that you need to keep honestly asking yourself just how serious these impacts really are. There really ought to be in alignment that allows you to build this trail with only the most minor adverse environmental impacts — impacts that are far outweighed by visitor benefits and opportunities for building ecological connections between humans and the natural world.

-- Guy Burgess

Comments on Dowdy Draw / Flatirons Vista Parking

2007-07-01T13:43:00.000-06:00

Please consider this a formal comment on OSMP plans for reconstructing the Flatirons Visita and Dowdy Draw trailheads.

I very much support and appreciate your efforts to make these trailheads more attractive and easier to use. Still, the big issue is one of capacity, especially with respect to Dowdy Draw.

As you know, capacity of this area has been a serious problem for a long time with lots of visitors parking illegally and countless others turned away on virtually every attractive weekend or holiday. In addition to generalized frustration with OSMP, the inadequacy of current parking increasingly jams visitors into a few high traffic areas (such as Chautauqua). This, in turn, leads to a significant degradation of the visitor experience while also placing extraordinary ecological pressure on some of the system's most prized areas.

As one looks to a future of inevitable population growth, this can only get worse. So, at the very least, I believe that OSMP should incorporate into its plans the increased capacity needed to satisfy demand.

If you don't want to do this for ecological reasons, then you need to institute an open, public process for setting and justifying ecologically-based limits on the number of visitors. In setting limits, you should be able to demonstrate that the environmental benefits of visitation limits justify the adverse impacts of increased visitation in other parts of the system and reductions in the quality of the visitor experience. You also need to address the equity issues associated with the parking limits that favor "early birds" over "late comers" and may favor non-Boulder residents over Boulder residents. Giving the increased restrictions on off-trail visitor access associated with a new area management plan, I find it hard to believe that the area cannot withstand a 50% increase in available parking.

I also urge the Department to find some way to get around the problem of County limits on driveway traffic (75 in and out trips per day!). Since this limit implies one car in or out of every 10 minutes, I find it hard to believe that it's justified on traffic safety concerns. I strongly urge OSMP to find some way of getting around these limits, by either obtaining special permission from the County or, if necessary, constructing a second parking lot.

OSMP is in the process of substantially increasing the attractiveness of this area to potential visitors and you can expect a lot of hard feelings should these improvements be accompanied by parking facilities that turn away lots of visitors.

Guy Burgess

Bald Eagles, Thriving, Settle Into Suburban Life

2007-07-01T11:38:00.000-06:00

OCALA, Fla., June 28 — Bald eagles, whose numbers dwindled to historic lows in the early 1960s, are again flourishing and no longer need the protections of the Endangered Species Act, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Thursday.

For full article go to NYTimes

Forest Service Bars Ski Film

2007-05-26T08:13:00.000-06:00

This is an extraordinary story of extreme overreaching on the part of the Forest Service and "Environmentally Correct" thinking. If you listen to the first clip you will hear the the Forect Service attempt to deny distribution of a film because of it does not reflect approved "wilderness values."

A film about the adventures of extreme skier Chris Davenport can't be shown. Davenport skied every Colorado fourteener in a year. But his film includes images of federal wilderness areas and violates the Wilderness Act. Mike Lamp speaks with Maribeth Gustafson, Supervisor of the White River National Forest.

Listen to Program

Aspen Man First to Ski All of State's Fourteeners

Extreme Skier Chris Davenport of Aspen has experienced Colorado in a way that no one else has. He's the first person to ski all of the state's fourteeners – 54 of them – in one year. He talks to Ryan Warner about his feat.

Listen to Interview

Dinosaur Tracks, What Are They For?

2007-05-04T22:07:00.000-06:00

Near Boulder, Colorado there is a place where one can, quite literally, walk along the same sandy beach that the dinosaurs enjoyed. It has, of course, been turned to stone and tipped up at an angle by the forces that created the Rocky Mountains. It would now be hidden from view except for the fact that decades ago the area was quarried revealing a smooth sandstone slab with beautiful ripple marks and dinosaur footprints.

The question is should this special place be concealed from the public, or should the public be invited to take a walk along a "Dinosaur Beach?" On the one hand there is the danger that somebody might vandalize the footprint. On the other hand, this is a special place close to a major metropolitan area where people can experience the enormity of time in a way that you just can't do in a museum.

On the Klondike Bluffs trail near Moab, for example, better footprints are found in the middle of a jeep/mountain bike trail where they are clearly marked with rings of stones. There they are left alone and deeply enjoyed by far more visitors (with giant SUV's) than would ever visit this Boulder site. Surely, Boulder's visitors are at least as responsible.

Still, in Boulder, the decision has been to "protect the resource" and keep the people away.

What's the value in that? It's doubtful that scientists need it. They have been studying dinosaurs for decades and there are still mountains to be excavated that would yield better specimens if further research is needed.

The value of this place is in building human connections with the natural environment. And, that's the missed opportunity. Write the Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks department and ask them to change their mind.

In the meantime, here are some pictures. Still, it's not the same as being there. Can you find the track?

It's "Both/And" NOT "Either/Or"

2007-05-02T17:16:00.000-06:00

It's not either environmental protection or more environmental recreation. Its both environmental protection and environmental recreation The key is to develop creative ways of maximizing recreational opportunities while minimizing environmental costs.

This principle, of course, extends to the planet as a whole. It's not either environmental protection or human development and prosperity it must be both environmental protection and human development and prosperity. This is a moral as well as a practical question. If the environmental movement allows its interests to be framed as antithetical human interests, then humans will vote their interests and we really will have an environmental catastrophe.

In the absence of such a balancing process the environmental movement boils down to the following phrase:

"Protect the environment, drop dead (in an environmentally responsible way)."

OSMP Off-Trail Permits Now Required for 50 Yard Hikes

2007-03-19T18:02:00.000-06:00

The City of Boulder's Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) Department has just instituted a new permitting system for off-trail travel on what will eventually be 35-50% percent of OSMP land. While the permitting system represents an improvement over earlier efforts to completely close these areas, the system, as currently structured, falls short of the Department's commitment (embodied in its Visitor Master Plan) to employ the "least restrictive" policies for achieving its environmental protection objectives.

One of the camera angles that now requires a permit.

Requiring permits for significant off-trail excursions makes some sense. It allows OPSMP to advise visitors on low-impact travel techniques, warn them about especially sensitive areas, and track visitation. However, since these areas are already very lightly visited, it seems doubtful that all the hassle and expense will yield significant environmental benefits.

The bigger problem, however, is the department's decision to require permits for VERY short diversions (less the 100 yards) from what is fundamentally an on-trail trip. Under the current rules, for example, you'll have to pretty much sit on the trail and enjoy your lunch as people walk by. If you don't want to be (literally) underfoot and if you want to enjoy a little privacy and solitude, you'll need to get a permit, in advance.

You also better have access to the Web. Otherwise, you'll have to send a letter or make a trip to an OSMP office (during business hours), which may take longer than your hike. If you choose to ignore these rules, you're at their mercy. They can fine you $1000.

That's not all. You'll need a permit if you want to take a picture, but the angle from the trail isn't quite right. You'll need a permit if you want to get a better look at the Western Tanager that just flew into the tree down the hill. You'll need a permit if you hike to the top of Long Canyon and you want to walk across the road and admire the view of the Indian Peaks from the clearing 50 yards off the road.

You'll also need a permit if you take the trail around the North Side of Flagstaff or up Green Mountain and want to scamper a few yards out to one of the viewpoints. And, the way the maps are currently written, you'll need a permit to check out the view at Stoney Point.

There are also ominous hints that if too many permits are requested during the first, experimental year of the program, then OSMP will start limiting the number available. Surely the miniscule environmental impact of giving users access to a 100-yard corridor on each side of the trail would be outweighed by improvements in the quality of the visitor experience.

Still, there is one bright spot. Exemptions are granted to heed the "call of nature" (which is never really defined). It seems to me that heeding the "call of the wild" and the "call of nature" are pretty much the same thing. So, maybe we don't have to follow the rules after all.

All joking aside, OSMP's on-trail requirement is a deliberate decision reflecting misplaced priorities. I respectfully ask the City Council to ask OSMP to amend those policies.

Sustainable Environmentalism

2007-03-18T22:56:00.000-06:00

The relentless growth of human settlements and the accompanying expansion into natural areas has led many in the environmental movement to view human society as something of a cancer which is growing on, and rapidly destroying, the natural environment. This way of framing the problem tends to see the environmental movement as a desperate effort to strengthen the barriers which protect the natural environment from human encroachment. In keeping with the cancer analogy, this view sees environmental protection as, quite literally, a fight for survival in which human society is the enemy. The political manifestation of this view is the contemporary conservation movement which is motivated by a philosophy which I call "separation ecology."

Unfortunately, it is an approach which fails the test of sustainability and equity. If people are increasingly separated from their environment then, sooner or later, they are likely to start asking why they should favor environmental protection measures. While alarmist (and often overstated) rhetoric about impending ecological collapse and altruistic appeals to protect natural species for their own sake may answer some of these concerns, the long-term trend is likely to be a continuing erosion of the core environmental constituency. In other words, it is unrealistic to expect to be able to sustain long-term, public support for environmental objectives if the public finds itself increasingly denied the benefits of environmental protection.

The environmental movement should also be about more than simple preservation. It has an interest in promoting human quality of life among a broad spectrum of the population, not just an elite few. It is not enough for environmental connections to be reserved for the wealthy and environmental activists who know how to take advantage of the system. The connection ecology project offers a new way of thinking about the environmental movement -- one which fosters both environmental protection and human quality of life.

No Child Left Inside

2007-03-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

This article appeared in The Economist on Feb 8, 2007. It summarizes the alarming fall in various measures of National Park visitation. This trend, if it continues, threatens the sustainability of the environmental movement and marks, in my view, a significant deterioration in human quality of life. A primary goal of this blog is the exploration of strategies for overcoming this problem.

Feb 8th 2007
SAN FRANCISCO
From The Economist print edition

Put down that Xbox, young man

TO THE alarm of environmentalists and park managers alike, interest in the great outdoors seems to be tailing off among young Americans. The country's extensive system of national parks includes some of the most photographed and best preserved landscapes on earth—like Yosemite Valley in California, the crenellated Teton Range in Wyoming, Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park or the white edifice of Mount Rainier in Washington state. But attendance at the parks is falling. Between 1995 and 2005, overnight stays in them declined 20% overall, and camping and backcountry stays dropped by 24%, according to statistics compiled by the National Parks Service.

No park, it seems, is immune to the decline: even in Yosemite, one of the system's oldest parks and probably its best known, the number of visitors dropped 17% over the ten-year period. The number of visitors to Death Valley, an easy drive from vigorously growing Las Vegas, went down 28% over the same span. In some of the system's remoter parks, such as Lava Beds National Monument near the California-Oregon border, site of much fighting in an Indian war of 1872-73, the number of daily visitors is down to ten or fewer.

The importance of this decline can hardly be over-estimated for big environmental organisations such as the Sierra Club: they have depended on what one expert calls “a transcendent experience in nature”, usually in childhood, to gain new members and thus remain powerful lobbyists for environmental causes. “The political implications are enormous,” says Richard Louv, a writer whose most recent book, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder”, describes the social, psychological and even spiritual ramifications of a dearth of outdoors experience for a generation raised on electronic, rather than natural, stimulation and entertainment.

Read entire article

Understanding the Visitor Role in the Spread of Invasive Plants: A Modest Research Proposal

2007-03-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

Much of the OSMP management debate focuses around the threat that hikers (as well as dogs and horses) may or may not pose to efforts to control the spread of invasive species. It seems to me that there is a simple, joint fact-finding process that we could all go through to clarify this issue.

First, we need a short list of invasive species that are the posing a significant threat to Open Space. Next, we need to identify at least one location where each species is getting out of control. Over the course of a year we would then need a fact-finding team to repeatedly visit each location to determine when seeds are and are not a susceptible to human dispersal. One could also walk through each area with typical types of clothing and then examine how many of the offending seeds each person picks up. This would enable us to identify kinds of clothes that limit the collection of seeds (such as the wearing of ankle gaitors to limit “sock prickers”). We could also determine what kinds of seeds are likely to fall off on a hike and hat kinds are likely to be transported back home where they don’t pose a threat. Similar tests could be done on dogs and horses.

The resulting information could then be used to separate necessary from unnecessary restrictions.

Connection Ecology Blog Contents

2007-03-01T17:24:00.000-07:00

OSMP Off-Trail Permits Now Required for 50 Yard Hi...

Sustainable Environmentalism

Connection Ecology

About the Connection Ecology Blog

No Child Left Inside

Connection Ecology: An Alternative to the War Betw...

Understanding the Visitor Role in the Spread of In...

Connection Ecology: The Next Phase of the Environm...

General Principles Underlying Boulder Outdoor Coal...

Adaptive Management

Environmental Damage / Human Presence

Environmental Constituency

US 36 Dispute Reveals OSMP Anti-people Bias

Equitable Access Problems

Research to "finds out" vs. research to "prove"

Eldorado Mountain / Dowdy Draw

The Original Boulder Open Space Poster

Natural / Human History Destination Hikes

Ecology Hikes

Inspirational Viewpoints

Natural / Human History Destination Hikes

Demonstration Project Maps / Legend

Proposed Marshall Mesa Interpretive Trail

Fewer happy campers

Where Gorillas and the Antelope Play

National parks seeing fewer camping visits

The “Social Trail” Problem: Myth or Reality?

Role of Urban Wilderness

Obligation to Provide Visitor Access

Facts and Values

The Overprotective Librarian Syndrome

Visitor Pathway / Trail Types

Unconventional Environmental Connections

Cohabitation

Role of Urban Wilderness

Unconventional Environmental Connections

User Fees / Sweat Equity Option

Connection Ecology: The Next Phase of the Environmental Movement?

2007-02-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

To date, the environmental movement has gone through three phases. The challenges of continuing population growth are now demanding that the movement enter a fourth. We call it "connection ecology." Without a move toward connection ecology, proliferating access restrictions will increasingly separate people from their natural environment, undermining human quality of life and the environmental constituency. These four phases are briefly summarized below.

Phase I: Legacy Parks (The Establishment of Yellowstone through Mission 66)
Guiding Principle: "...conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." -- The Organic Act which guides the National Park Service

Accomplishments: Yellowstone; Rocky Mountain; Arches; National Forest lands, campgrounds, and trails; Boulder Mountain Parks, etc. Today the vast majority of natural area visits are to these legacy sites. It's hard to imagine where the environmental movement would be without them.

Shortcomings: Weak understanding of complex eco-dynamics, failure to protect non-park lands, overly commercial focus.

Phase II: Outrage and Revolution (Silent Spring through the Energy Crisis)
Guiding Principle: Opposition to the widespread pillage and looting of the environment.

Accomplishments: Clean Air and Water Acts, the Environmental Protection Agency, National Environmental Policy Act, Wilderness Act, Endangered Species Act, other key environmental statutes and agencies. Defeat or pro-environmental modification of countless major projects (Glenwood Canyon, Vail Pass, oil shale, Rocky Flats, nuclear power, Marble and Bridge Canyons...)

Shortcomings: Difficulty in dealing with the "close call" environmental issues where the benefits may not outweigh the costs. The environmental movement's opposition to anything that might adversely affect the environment may have led to over-reaching and the strengthening of backlash movements (such as Wise Use).

Phase III: Hold the Line/Separation Ecology (1980/90's--present)
Guiding Principle: "Earth First. No compromise in defense of mother earth." Opposition to "industrial tourism."

Accomplishments: Expanded open space programs, wetland and endangered species protection.

Shortcomings: Undervalues human visitation. Inadequate consideration given to the costs of environmental protection. Doesn't search for visitation/protection win-win. Contributes to excessive pressure on legacy parks. Diminishes visitor experiences. Increases separation between humans and the natural environment.

Phase IV: Connection (Coexistence) Ecology (The next step, I hope)
Guiding Principles: Earth and people connected, both valued.

Accomplishments: Encourages and accommodates human visitation. Innovative, win-win visitation/protection solutions. Builds quality of life for all citizens. Builds environmental constituency.

Likely Shortcomings: Accepts some environmental risk and damage. Will require repair and restoration.

General Principles Underlying Boulder Outdoor Coalition Trail Recommendations for Eldorado Mountain and Doudy Draw TSA

2007-01-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

Note: This post was written at an earlier stage in the ongoing public debate over Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks policies. While somewhat dated, the post still raises important issues which are still relevant.

1. Comparable Trail Densities — The trail densities should be somewhat lower than trail densities of comparable HCAs and Nas.

2. Equitable Treatment of User Groups — In recognition of the many different visitor constituencies within our community we believe that the trail development plan should provide "something for everyone" and should not favor some groups at the expense of others.

3. Variable Length Options — People want to spend different amount of time and travel different. distances. Quality options should range from short to long with connection to adjacent Open Space Tracts (including Jefferson County OS).

4. Fine-tuning of Trail Alignments — Our proposed trails are approximate. We expect final alignments will be determined by local conditions including such things as soil types and the need to avoid locally sensitive areas (such as nesting sites).

5. Importance of Quality Trails — As we try to limit increasingly limit visitor presence to a small number of trails, it's increasingly important of these trails be designed to maximize the visitor experience. They should deliberately seeking to identify and provide access to quality destinations including inspirational viewpoints and areas of historical or geological interest. The trails should also be constructs so that "getting there is at least half the fun" with trails designed to meet the needs of all user groupsTrails rooted for their scenic value are more desirable than those that simply follow routes of convenience (e.g. old access roads for high-voltage power lines). . Loop trails are also
widely seen as contributing as providing a more attractive user experience.

6. Visitor Restrictions — In general, environmental protection and user conflict resolution measures should employ the least restrictive method of achieving each objective. In addition, the process should be transparent with the environmental objectives and alternative strategies for achieving those objectives clearly and publically stated. The same principle should apply to efforts to address potential user conflicts.

7. Access — Parking facilities should be adequate to meet the demand. Inadequate parking which turns significant numbers of users away should be viewed and justified as a "restriction."

Adaptive Management

2007-01-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

It's obvious that a great deal of uncertainty exists regarding the resilience of ecosystems and the impact of various human visitation options. In the face of such uncertainty one has two basic options. One can implement an extremely cautious management plan -- one that essentially excludes visitors from an entire area. While this would obviously minimize the risks associated with human visitation, it's highly probable (but not certain) that the environmental benefits of such an approach would be quite small, at least as compared with a modest, environmentally sensitive human visitation program. Taking the most conservative approach possible would still be the obvious choice, except for the fact that there are real costs associated with unnecessary visitor restrictions. These include, for example, diminished public understanding of prairie and other ecosystems, reduced public support for open space programs, and human quality of life impacts.

It is these costs which are pressuring OSMP land managers to look for ways of simultaneously pursuing both recreational and preservation objectives. In short, they are in the politically difficult position of having to decide how cautious is too cautious.

Under such circumstances is common for the parties to wish that they knew more. Better science would reduce uncertainties in the corresponding level of needed caution. It would allow land managers allow greater visitation while simultaneously maintaining or even strengthening the level of environmental protection.

The good news is that there is a practical and inexpensive strategy for reducing uncertainty. It is based on the fundamental principle that the longer you look into the future the greater the level of uncertainty. To date the visitor planning has focused on long-term decisions with the apparent goal of crafting a series of policies which would not have to be continually reviewed. To my knowledge there was little planning and budgeting for impact monitoring and the prompt mitigation of unanticipated adverse impacts. If you're going to manage this way, you it have to have very large safety margins which, in turn, force unnecessary and controversial visitor restrictions.

An alternative, adaptive management strategy would focus more attention on short-term decisions and include funding for the continued monitoring of visitation and environmental impacts. It would have the money needed to be able to identify environmental problems as they arise and then promptly take appropriate corrective measures. It would be able to act before problems got out of hand and while mitigation options were still feasible and affordable. Similarly rewarding new visitor opportunities to be added based upon visitor suggestions and continuing environmental assessments.

For example, in areas where there are concerns that visitors might allow the seeds of invasive species to "hitchhike" on their clothing, the visitor plan could include funding a systematic search for invasive species at the earliest stages of the flowering season---when they are easily identifiable and before they've had a chance to reproduce. Any plants that are found could be destroyed and if the number of invasive plants is significantly greater than those found in the control area then a broader area closure might be implemented.

As another example, in areas where there is concern that human visitation might scare away nesting birds, the area could be closed until each year's nests are firmly established. Areas without active nests could then be reopened with the entire area opened once they the nesting season concludes. Area wide closures could then be reinstituted at the beginning of the next nesting season. An area can also be monitored for the emergence of unwanted social trails with incipient trails closed before there is significant vegetation damage.

Environmental Damage / Human Presence

2006-12-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

Environmental damage is not the same as detectable human presence. With today's sophisticated powers of observation, we can find evidence of "damaging" human presence almost anywhere. This means that we need to be able to determine when evidence of human presence is associated with unacceptable damage and when it is merely evidence that humans are part of the ecosystem.

Environmental Constituency

2006-12-18T22:51:00.000-07:00

Policies which build barriers which separate humans from their natural environment (something I call "separation ecology") are likely to diminish the number of people who will develop strong personal connections with the natural world. This, in turn, threatens to weaken the environmental constituency which is, in a democracy, essential to environmental preservation. Still, building environmental connections is about more than political expediency. It is about enhancing human quality of life. If environmental connections are good for people, and I believe that they are, we should try to figure out how to extend those benefits to as many people as possible. It would be tragic if an overprotective environmental movement were to confine an increasing number of people to life in which their only contact with the
natural world was through Sea World-type theme parks and nature television.

US 36 Dispute Reveals OSMP Anti-people Bias

2006-12-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

According to a recent Camera story, there are plans to construct a bikeway as part of the expansion of US 36 to 6 lanes. Included in the plans is a bikeway designed to give commuters an alternative to jamming the highways, filling the air with pollutants, and cultivating the couch potato physique. According to the article, the plan was to build the bikeway 30' (10 yards, 1 1st down) off a major freeway. Something to be encouraged, right? Not for OSMP. That would be an unacceptable encrouchment on open space. They're insisting that the bikers ride on the shoulder and breath the fumes (with a concret barrier). How many people do you think would do that. Where does human quality of life fit in their priorities?

Boulder Daily Camera
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2006/dec/13/boulder-leaders-transit-officials-clash/

Boulder leaders, transit officials clash
Bike path through open space one point of contention

By Ryan Morgan (Contact)Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Boulder's elected leaders and officials planning traffic improvements for U.S. 36 clashed Tuesday night over bike paths and bus lanes.

The City Council met with Rick Pilgrim, project manager for the Environmental Impact Study along the U.S. 36 corridor, which is slated for more than $1 billion in improvements. A draft of the study — which will determine what gets built on the Turnpike once it's complete — is due to federal officials at the end of the month, and Boulder's leaders aren't happy with what it says.
The first bone of contention concerns a proposed bike path for commuters along U.S. 36. Pilgrim said an initial proposal to build a separate bike path 30 feet from U.S. 36 isn't feasible because it would run through sensitive Open Space and Mountain Parks parcels and wetlands.

That leaves two options, Pilgrim said. The path could run directly adjacent to the highway, separated from traffic by a maintenance wall. If that doesn't get approved, he said, another option would be to build on-street bike lanes on South Boulder and Cherryvale roads to take bicycle commuters around the sensitive areas.

Pilgrim said a third option, to upgrade an unpaved path that currently runs alongside South Boulder and Cherryvale roads, had been taken off the table. "After looking at this long and hard, and considering all of the details, our recommendation was to set that one aside, because it's clearly inferior," he said. But Boulder's open space and City Council officials disagreed.
"I don't know why we would do something different than take advantage of an already-existing bike path," said Mike Patton, the city's open space director. "From that standpoint, there would be very little environmental impact."

Mayor Mark Ruzzin said bicycle commuters would much prefer their own path than rubbing shoulders with traffic on a busy street like South Boulder Road. And he criticized Pilgrim and other planning officials for waiting to reveal the new options. "It leaves a bad taste in our mouths," Ruzzin said.

Council members said they're also unhappy that U.S. 36 planners are considering ending designated Bus Rapid Transit lanes at Cherryvale Road rather than at the Table Mesa Drive bus stop. City officials said the bus service depends on having its own dedicated lanes, and they worry about creating a bottleneck before the buses reach their destination.
"Clearly the idea is that we could have a very nice BRT system that works great, as long as you want to get off at Cherryvale," Ruzzin said.

Pilgrim said adding dedicated "flyover" lanes just for the buses would significantly increase the project's cost, and would only improve their travel time by 11/2 minutes, at most.
"We've not found that there is a problem with the bus leaving that lane and weaving over a lane and getting over," he said.

Equitable Access Problems

2006-12-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

Fern Meadow, the Devil's Thumb Homeowners Associations virtually private City of Boulder Open Space land.

Perhaps more than anything else Boulder’s soul is embodied in its trademark Flatirons and its much loved and always busy Chautauqua Hill. In the 1970s, recognizing continuing population pressures, Boulder residents approved a tax to fund the acquisition of the rest of Boulder’s mountain backdrop and its other "Chautauqua Hills." While this effort has been a great success there are areas in which a muddled coincidence of a "preservation over visitation" environmental philosophy and the selfish desires of neighbors to limit public access to taxpayer-funded backyard playground has effectively subverted original goals of the program.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the effectively private, neighborhood-only trails in Devil’s Thumb and Eldorado Springs area. The Fern Meadow trail, for example, (south of Stoney Hill Drive) is especially problematic. This unmapped trail (which is actively being maintained with water bars) follows an old road bed and offers, for South Boulder, a view comparable the Chautauqua Hill. For years access to this area was in dispute. The Devils Thumb Homeowners Association put up fences and gates informing the public that this area of the public Open Space was only for the Homeowners Association members and guests. Alternative access points required cumbersome, boring approaches along completely unmapped and unmarked social trails.

My understanding was that the agreement between the Homeowners Association and the City resolving these access issues included the understanding that this access point (Fern Creek at Stoney Hill Drive) would either be open to the general public or closed to all. That, unfortunately, is not what has happened. There is still a gate with a sign stating that the area is private and referring visitors to a much inferior trailhead.

The gate and sign on Stoney Hill Drive.

A similar problem exists in the Eldorado Springs area where two maintained trails lead north and south in the valleys west of the Dakota Ridge. Public access to both of these is blocked by "no trespassing" or "no open space access" signs.

Research to "finds out" vs. research to "prove"

2006-12-11T16:39:00.000-07:00

With respect to OSMP research (and most other public policy research) there is a great deal of interest in research which "proves" that what people want to believe is actually true. There is much less interest in real research -- the kind that "find outs" whether one might, in fact, be wrong. If you are serious about protecting the environment and human quality of life then we must resist the tendency to focus only on reaserch which "proves" and embrace reaserch which "finds out." We must also resist the common belief that, since there are always irreducible uncertainties it must be true that I was right all along.

Eldorado Mountain / Dowdy Draw

2006-12-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

OSMP Board of Trustees Meeting Comments October 11, 2006
Guy Burgess

NOTE: After these comments were made, OSMP decided to retain the under the powerline alighnment and continue to deny access to the Flatirons Vista.

As someone who has made something of a career in environmental dispute resolution, I'd like to start by complimenting the Department on the process used to secure public input on the Eldorado Trail Study Area. Still, the test of environmental decision-making is not the nature public input process but the decisions that are ultimately made.

At first blush, you seem to have crafted a workable compromise. From what I've been able to gather everyone seems equally disappointed. Still, when I look at the plan I am struck by its missed opportunities.

It seems to me that the Department's mission is pretty clear. You need to find ways of equitably maximizing visitor opportunities while maintaining a high degree of environmental protection.

Key to success of such a balancing act is the active pursuit of the least restrictive way of achieving each environmental objective. Also key is the avoidance of policies which do not balance the costs of visitor restrictions with comparable environmental benefits.

Here I feel that the current plan has serious shortcomings. I'll offer a couple of examples.

First, current trail alignments strongly discourage or outright deny visitor access to the grand vistas off the north rim of the Rocky Flats Mesa (both east and west of Doudy Draw). I can't figure out how the environmental benefits these alignments could possibly justify their costs, in terms of lost visitor opportunities. Surely the Department could push the ground nesting bird protection area back 100 feet and allow visitors to enjoy the view from the rim. Similarly, it could push the least part of the Spring Brook trail out the rim.

This is the big, Flatirons vista / Dowdy Draw overlook--the best view on the whole hike. Surely they could have found an environmentally responsible way to let people see the view away from the power lines!

Flatirons Vista trail is really the access road for the power line. OSMP seems to think that, if it good enough for Public Service trucks, it's good enough for OSMP visitors.

By the same token I can't figure out what environmental benefit justifies funneling all those visitors under the high-tension power lines. Would you like to listen to the wind whistling through these power lines? Or, or would you like to listen to the birds?

There are lots of other examples:

Why are equestrians arbitrarily excluded from a program to evaluate the environmental impacts of off-trail visitation?

Why doesn't the plan take advantage of the opportunity to offer visitors a chance to literally walk along a beach visited by dinosaurs?

Correcting these oversights would be pretty simple. All it would take is the political will to move a few lines on the map and make corresponding changes to the text. The failure to make such changes would say a lot about how much you care about the quality visitor experiences.

Remember, OSMP visitors are your natural allies. How sustainable do you think the environmental movement will be if you treat them like enemies?

See Final OSMP Plan

The Original Boulder Open Space Poster

2006-11-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

This is the poster from the original campaign to establish and fund a Greenbelt (later called Open Space) program for the City of Boulder, CO. The purpose of the program was to expand the existing Mountain Parks and to prevent development which threatened Boulder's mountain backdrop and adjacent lands.

As you can see from the poster, the vision very much included public wild land recreation.

Natural / Human History Destination Hikes

2006-10-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Connection Ecology Visitory Opportunity
Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park Demonstration Project

Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park Demonstration Project
The initial focus of the Connection Ecology site was a demonstration project designed to show the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park Department how they could apply Connection Ecology principles to its Vistor Planning efforts. This effort suggested ways in which environmental connections could be fostered. While these ideas have not been implemented, they still illustrate the kind of planning the could and should be done.

The accompanying maps can be found at this post

Visitor understanding of natural and human history he can also be developed with a series of historical "destination" hikes such as those suggested below. .

Dinosaur Sandbar / Clay Pit Along the Dakota Hogback, sometimes called "Dinosaur Ridge," east of Eldorado Mountain a series of old clay pits reveal an ancient, petrified sand bar with seemingly endless water ripple marks. This is dinosaur tracking country. A trail built along the length of these old quarries would literally give people the opportunity to track real dinosaurs. While the tracks to be found are rare and hardly of museum quality, the experience of being able to track dinosaurs in the wild is priceless.

Eldorado Railroad Before the invention of the automobile and Vail's (the highway engineer) all season highways railroads were the way people got around Colorado. For decades the elusive challenge was to find a way to penetrate the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. And, Eldorado Canyon was an important target of these efforts. Before completion of the current high-level grade which connects with the Moffat Tunnel and Winter Park, engineers for the Denver, Utah, and Pacific Railroad attempted to penetrate the Canyon with a lower-level rail line. While the project was never finished, the roadbed still exists and forms the foundation for the Fowler Trail and the upper Dowdy Draw trail. In recognition of its key part of our history and its spectacular views of Eldorado Canyon, the connection ecology maps propose reopening the connecting, center portion of the old railroad grade from Dowdy Draw to the Fowler Trail.

Water Resource Hikes Boulder residents are also almost completely unaware of the fact that, without irrigation, the valley in which they live would be almost completely devoid of trees. The history of water diversion projects is central to the history of Boulder. Few, for example, realize that Viele Lake was constructed and filled by an irrigation ditch from South Boulder Creek before there were any houses in Boulder south of Baseline Road. The abandoned irrigation ditch is a bit of history that still exists and could be highlighted on existing trails or even form the basis of a new trail from Fairview High School to South Boulder Creek.

Other key points of interest related to water development include the Denver Water Board Supply Canal, the Marshall ditch, the Silver Lake ditch, the old and now abandoned city reservoirs behind Red Rocks, the system which generates hydroelectric power from the flow the city's municipal water, and the city's numerous water tanks and reservoirs. Interpretive materials which help people understand the elaborate environmental transformations that are required to support our modern urban society should be available at these interest points.

Bear Creek Natural / Human History Trail Not only does the scenic Bear Creek Trail take you through the igneous rocks that form the foundation of the Rocky Mountains. You are also able to see the geologic succession of overlying sedimentary rocks which shape so much of the area's environment. Noteworthy points of interest include the Fountain Formation which produces the Flatirons, the Lyons sandstone (found on University buildings), the Dakota / Dinosaur Ridge, and the Four-mile fault. A expert geologist could undoubtedly put together a fascinating collection of materials for visitors to this area.

The canyon's eyesore power line is also a great historical interest. Created in the early 1900s as part of one of Boulder's earliest power projects -- involving Barker reservoir, Kossler lake, and the Boulder Canyon power plant (at the tunnel). The siting of this power line away from the obvious route through downtown is reported to be one of Boulder's earliest efforts to protect its environment.

Early Settlements A lot of existing trails consist of old roads to homesteads, a few of which are still visible. Interpretive materials which tell the story of what it was like to settle these areas will also serve to deepen visitor understanding of the area's human history as would materials describing Native American habitation of the area. The connection ecology maps mark many of these cabins, along with the few surprises, like the place on the Gregory Canyon trail where you can see the ruts apparently cut into the solid rock by steel-rimmed wagon wheels.
Farming HikesOne of the consequences of our high tech society is that average citizens have lost almost all connection with the agricultural and mining activities required to support our society. One way in which the OSMP program might be able to limit this disconnect is through a series of interpretive farming and ranching programs which actively encourage people to take hiking, jogging, and biking trails which wind their way through active agricultural areas. People ought to be able to see what it takes to plant, grow, and harvest the fields of hay, corn, wheat, and, perhaps, a few vegetable crops. While this may require the redirecting of some farming activities, it could also go a long way toward demonstrating what modern, environmentally sensitive agriculture is all about. It would even be informative to include temporary closures for the application of pesticides and herbicides.

Mining Hikes The area's role as a mining center is now largely a matter of history. The adverse impacts of mineral extraction have now largely been transferred to other areas and other countries. Still, given our resource-intensive lifestyle, we ought to do what we can to highlight the long shadow cast by the area's quite limited mining activities. In addition to highlighting area coal mining in Marshall and elsewhere, the visitor plan might include a review of the area's many clay pits, and Lyons sandstone quarries. Here the extensive work required to restore the old Conda quarry is worth drawing to visitors' attention.

Ecology Hikes

2006-10-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park Demonstration Project
The initial focus of the Connection Ecology site was a demonstration project designed to show the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park Department how they could apply Connection Ecology principles to its Vistor Planning efforts. This effort suggested ways in which environmental connections could be fostered. While these ideas have not been implemented, they still illustrate the kind of planning the could and should be done.

The accompanying maps can be found at this post.

Encouraging visitors to take ecological or "destination" hikes can do a lot to increase the sophistication of popular understanding of a broad range of issues. Suggested below are a number of possibilities.

Before and After Tours: In everyday life we are poorly equipped to observe long-term change. Our brains are attuned to motions measured in frames per second not frames per decade. Many of the visitor opportunities outlined here and in the history section involve "before and after" destination hikes. Such hikes can be created with limited signage and a few brochures (which could easily be made available at trailheads, visitor centers, and over the Web). The brochures, with accompanying historical photographs, would invite visitors to revisit the historical camera vantage points and see how things have changed. Also included would be appropriate interpretive materials explaining the science behind the changes and the resulting policy dilemmas.

Forest Ecology: Connection ecology maps mark recent fires on the front shoulder of the Second Flatiron, the north flank of the mouth of Skunk Canyon, the Bluebell/Baird trail, the area west of the Mesa Trail and south of the Maiden water tank. Also marked are forest thinning operations on Shanahan Ridge and Enchanted Mesa as well as controlled burns on Flagstaff, Enchanted Mesa, and Shanahan Ridge. There's even a small, unthinned and overgrown forest on Shanahan Ridge with densely packed but stunted trees. Finally, there are disease kills on the West Ridge trails of both Bear Peak and Green Mountain and on the North Face of the Green Mountain Summit cone.

Non-native Species: A second complex ecological issue facing the parks which is invisible to the casual observer involves the invasion of various non-native species. In some cases the invasions involve relatively stable populations of species deliberately introduced by humans wishing to enhance the environment with, for example, apple trees and wildflowers. Other invasions, such as the many different kinds of thistle are, however, quite capable of overrunning existing populations and significantly harming the environment. Informative fliers would guide people to places where they can witness the process of ecological invasion and make their own, more informed, judgments about what control measures are appropriate. Connection ecology maps highlight apple and oak tree locations in Gregory Canyon and sweet peas on Chautauqua Hill and thistle infestations on Flagstaff and Shanahan Ridge. OSMP staff could certainly identify additional areas where non-native species problems can be observed.

Wildlife Observation Blinds: Large sections of mountain parkland (including the popular rock climbing areas of the Amphitheater and the Third Flatiron) are now closed much of the year to protect nesting raptors. In order to build public understanding of these beautiful birds and the role that they play in the ecosystem, the connection ecology program would construct short spurs from existing trails to raptor observation points where people could unobtrusively observe the birds as well as review appropriate interpretive materials. Here the map suggests a Bluebell Canyon overlook spur from the Royal Arch Trail.

Seasonal Variations Hikes: One advantage of the Web and the system's many on trail bulletin boards is the ability to post a broad range of seasonal interpretive materials. It should not be very expensive to post continually changing "what you can see this month" bulletins highlighting things like blooming wildflowers, pine tree pollination season, migrating birds, and seasonal animal behavior.

Inspirational Viewpoints

2006-10-25T20:15:00.000-06:00

For many visitors, the most rewarding part of their open space visit is time spent relaxing at one of the area's truly inspiring viewpoints. Given the importance of these views and the general shortage of places to enjoy them apart from the bustle of the busy trail, the connection ecology maps highlight a number of commonly missed, but spectacular viewpoints which can be reached by short spur trails. Among viewpoints marked on the maps are the following.

Eldorado Mountain and Bear Peak Among the viewpoints highlighted is a view of Eldorado Canyon from the old railroad grade (assuming that access to a trail following this grade is approved--see history hike page). Another viewpoint (and this is the last one that requires the formal acceptance of significant new trail segments ascends to the summit of Dakota Ridge on a prominent social trail from the saddle between Eldorado Springs and Shadow Canyon. Another key viewpoint is found on the west end of the mesa which separates the Towhee trail from the South Mesa trail. Shadow Canyon hikers who commonly experience an endless walk through the trees could benefit from a short spur to a spectacular viewpoint at the base of the large boulderfield below the Devil's Thumb. Currently, the old microwave tower trail stops a few feet short of a spectacular viewpoint on the crest of the Dakota Ridge southwest of NCAR. Another highlighted viewpoint avoids the riparian area along Bear Creek while still providing easy access to one of the Mountain Park's few waterfalls (in the late spring only).

Green Mountain Given the short supply of uncrowded viewpoints at the top of Green Mountain, the connection ecology map notes that a short trail connecting the two west ends of the switchbacks just before the summit of the Greenman trail would take visitors to a rocky outcropping with a spectacular view of the Indian Peaks. Three other exceptional views in this busy area are also marked. One follows a short spur from the West Ridge Trail to one of the many hills overlooking Long and Panther canyons. An even more spectacular viewpoint can be reached from the short scramble onto the rocks at the end of the last major switchback on the Ranger trail (before the junction with the West Ridge Trail). Yet another viewpoint gives visitors an opportunity to look down on the Flatirons from a few feet off the Greenman trail where it first approaches the crest of the Saddle Rock ridge. There are also numerous viewpoints on the unmapped climber access trails around the Flatirons including one in the boulderfield separating the Second and Third Flatirons, another at the back of the Third Flatiron, the First Flatironette, and three major viewpoints on the First / Second Flatiron trail (one of which actually takes hikers to the middle of the Flatirons and a view normally reserved for rock climbers only).

Flagstaff / Redrocks Area The Connection Ecology maps also recognize great views at the end of a short spur off the Flagstaff trail to the top of Campbell's cliffs and another viewpoint to the southeast of Alamo Rock. West of Red Rocks there are great views from the east end of the "pipeline" road and at the west end of Anemone ridge (at the OSMP boundary).
General CommentsThese are only some of the suggested viewpoints. The careful review of the connection ecology maps will find more. While I have not marked the many inspirational views accessible from existing trails, inclusion of information about these viewpoints would help people plan more rewarding hikes. These places can all be made a bit more enjoyable with a little discrete reworking of area rocks and wants to provide informal and comfortable places to sit.

Natural / Human History Destination Hikes

2006-10-20T22:05:00.000-06:00

Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park Demonstration Project

Natural / Human History Destination Hikes
NOTE: Many of the destination hikes described on this page are marked on the connection ecology maps. Consult the legend for a key to the symbols.

Visitor understanding of natural and human history he can also be developed with a series of historical "destination" hikes such as those suggested below. .

Dinosaur Sandbar / Clay Pit Along the Dakota Hogback, sometimes called "Dinosaur Ridge," east of Eldorado Mountain a series of old clay pits reveal an ancient, petrified sand bar with seemingly endless water ripple marks. This is dinosaur tracking country. A trail built along the length of these old quarries would literally give people the opportunity to track real dinosaurs. While the tracks to be found are rare and hardly of museum quality, the experience of being able to track dinosaurs in the wild is priceless.

Eldorado Railroad Before the invention of the automobile and Vail's (the highway engineer) all season highways railroads were the way people got around Colorado. For decades the elusive challenge was to find a way to penetrate the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. And, Eldorado Canyon was an important target of these efforts. Before completion of the current high-level grade which connects with the Moffat Tunnel and Winter Park, engineers for the Denver, Utah, and Pacific Railroad attempted to penetrate the Canyon with a lower-level rail line. While the project was never finished, the roadbed still exists and forms the foundation for the Fowler Trail and the upper Dowdy Draw trail. In recognition of its key part of our history and its spectacular views of Eldorado Canyon, the connection ecology maps propose reopening the connecting, center portion of the old railroad grade from Dowdy Draw to the Fowler Trail.

Water Resource Hikes Boulder residents are also almost completely unaware of the fact that, without irrigation, the valley in which they live would be almost completely devoid of trees. The history of water diversion projects is central to the history of Boulder. Few, for example, realize that Viele Lake was constructed and filled by an irrigation ditch from South Boulder Creek before there were any houses in Boulder south of Baseline Road. The abandoned irrigation ditch is a bit of history that still exists and could be highlighted on existing trails or even form the basis of a new trail from Fairview High School to South Boulder Creek.

Other key points of interest related to water development include the Denver Water Board Supply Canal, the Marshall ditch, the Silver Lake ditch, the old and now abandoned city reservoirs behind Red Rocks, the system which generates hydroelectric power from the flow the city's municipal water, and the city's numerous water tanks and reservoirs. Interpretive materials which help people understand the elaborate environmental transformations that are required to support our modern urban society should be available at these interest points.

Bear Creek Natural / Human History Trail Not only does the scenic Bear Creek Trail take you through the igneous rocks that form the foundation of the Rocky Mountains. You are also able to see the geologic succession of overlying sedimentary rocks which shape so much of the area's environment. Noteworthy points of interest include the Fountain Formation which produces the Flatirons, the Lyons sandstone (found on University buildings), the Dakota / Dinosaur Ridge, and the Four-mile fault. A expert geologist could undoubtedly put together a fascinating collection of materials for visitors to this area.

The canyon's eyesore power line is also a great historical interest. Created in the early 1900s as part of one of Boulder's earliest power projects -- involving Barker reservoir, Kossler lake, and the Boulder Canyon power plant (at the tunnel). The siting of this power line away from the obvious route through downtown is reported to be one of Boulder's earliest efforts to protect its environment.

Early Settlements A lot of existing trails consist of old roads to homesteads, a few of which are still visible. Interpretive materials which tell the story of what it was like to settle these areas will also serve to deepen visitor understanding of the area's human history as would materials describing Native American habitation of the area. The connection ecology maps mark many of these cabins, along with the few surprises, like the place on the Gregory Canyon trail where you can see the ruts apparently cut into the solid rock by steel-rimmed wagon wheels.

Farming Hikes One of the consequences of our high tech society is that average citizens have lost almost all connection with the agricultural and mining activities required to support our society. One way in which the OSMP program might be able to limit this disconnect is through a series of interpretive farming and ranching programs which actively encourage people to take hiking, jogging, and biking trails which wind their way through active agricultural areas. People ought to be able to see what it takes to plant, grow, and harvest the fields of hay, corn, wheat, and, perhaps, a few vegetable crops. While this may require the redirecting of some farming activities, it could also go a long way toward demonstrating what modern, environmentally sensitive agriculture is all about. It would even be informative to include temporary closures for the application of pesticides and herbicides.

Mining Hikes The area's role as a mining center is now largely a matter of history. The adverse impacts of mineral extraction have now largely been transferred to other areas and other countries. Still, given our resource-intensive lifestyle, we ought to do what we can to highlight the long shadow cast by the area's quite limited mining activities. In addition to highlighting area coal mining in Marshall and elsewhere, the visitor plan might include a review of the area's many clay pits, and Lyons sandstone quarries. Here the extensive work required to restore the old Conda quarry is worth drawing to visitors' attention.

Demonstration Project Maps / Legend

2006-10-10T19:51:00.000-06:00

Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park Demonstration Project
The initial focus of the Connection Ecology site was a demonstration project designed to show the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park Department how they could apply Connection Ecology principles to its Vistor Planning efforts. This effort produced the following maps suggesting ways in which environmental connections could be fostered. While these ideas have not been implemented, they still illustrate the kind of planning the could and should be done.

Commentary accompanying these maps is found on the following posts:

Ecology Hikes
Natural / Human History Hikes
Inspirational Viewpoints

Legend

Flagstaff

Green Mountain

Bear Peak

Eldorado Mountain

Proposed Marshall Mesa Interpretive Trail

2006-10-01T22:21:00.000-06:00

Guy Burgess

Note: This post was written at an earlier stage in the ongoing public debate over Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks policies. While somewhat dated, the post still raises important issues which are still relevant.

Among urban environmentalists and wilderness recreationists, the least well understood local ecosystem is the prairie. Seldom appreciated as a vibrant ecosystem, it is commonly seen as little more than vacant land – a place where any human use is preferable to leaving the land the way it was. From metro Denver you have to drive a very long way – perhaps of the Pawnee National Grasslands to get a sense of what the prairie was like before the great waves of farming, ranching, urbanization, and accompanying irrigation. At Marshall Mesa have a rare opportunity to change that with construction of an interpretive "prairie appreciation" trail.

While I don't know the area well enough to propose a specific alignment, I do think that you need something with the following characteristics. First, and in keeping with the area's designation as a Habitat Conservation Area, I see this as an on-trail-only trail with a double fence, "cattle chute" design in particularly sensitive areas. It would be an out-and-back trail that would, because it provides access to sensitive areas, be closed to cyclists and equestrians. (Hitching posts and bike racks could be available at the trailhead.) The design could also include spurs that would be closed during the nesting season and other environmentally sensitive times.

The alignment would follow an unobtrusive and wandering route that would tour the different types of grasslands, riparian zones, big views, and wildlife observation areas. Where appropriate wildlife observation blinds and shaded benches could be built. Interpretive materials could be keyed to numbered posts and accompanying interpretive pamphlet which could be distributed at the trailhead and made available online. There might also be a short and long versions of the pamphlet for visitors with differing levels of interest. Also available would be bird lists, plant identification guides, historical descriptions, and explanations of applicable agricultural practices. The exact length of the trail would depend upon the geographic distribution of points of interest (though something around a mile and a half would probably work). You want to get people to the point where they can experience the sights and sounds of the prairie without interference from adjacent urban areas.

With good planning you should be able to build public support for prairie preservation while simultaneously protecting the area's sensitive environmental resources.

Fewer happy campers

2006-09-27T10:28:00.000-06:00

A generation of environmental opposition to the expansion of quality visitor opportunities in the National Parks is having an effect. The quality of the visitor experience continues to deteriorate. Not surprisingly people are finding other things to do. Environmentalists ought to be very worried that this will weaken the environmental constituency. If people continue to be driven away the sustainability of the whole movement may be threatened along with the quality of life of our fellow citizens.

Fewer happy campers
Declining overnight stays signals worrisome trend
Boulder Daily Camera
September 27, 2006

Camping in the national parks is apparently losing popularity, and while that might be temporarily beneficial for the overcrowded parks themselves, it signals a worrisome political trend.

Between 1995 and 2005, overnight stays in national parks dropped by 20 percent, CDenver Post reported Monday. Overnight visits fell about 4.3 percent in the first eight months of this year, perhaps showing that the decline is accelerating. Those numbers reflect campground stays (both tents and RV) and backcountry visits.

The national parks have just under 14 million overnight visits a year. That's no small number, but in context of the demographic and political realities that sustain the parks, the decline is a concern.

"Let's face it: It's hard to protect the parks if no one is interested in them," Butch Street, a statistician for the National Park Service, told the newspaper.

Explanations for the trend vary. Some note that U.S. population growth is fueled in large part by ethnic minorities, who have traditionally been "underserved" by the parks. Others suggest an inverse relationship between park visitation and video games, DVDs and other gadgets.

Additionally, some worry about the danger from humans in the parks. As some note, though, the parks aren't alone in being neglected. Large numbers of people choose not to go outside much or at all.

That may be hard to remember here in Colorado, whose residents are unusually outdoorsy. And it may be hard to believe on brilliant autumn days like Tuesday, which lured legions of locals outside.

But it's worth remembering that the protection of national parks, like other national treasures, depends on the abiding support and good will of citizens. Such advocacy is weakened when parks are merely two-dimensional abstractions, pretty pictures flashing on a screen or passing by a window.

So get out there. Breathe the crisp air. Grow deaf in the silence. Drift off under a billion stars. And perceive the parks as they really are: worthwhile.

Where Gorillas and the Antelope Play

2006-09-26T07:40:00.000-06:00

If environmental preservation efforts are going to be successful they must also serve the interest of the human population. If things are framed as the environment or people, sooner or later the environment will lose. This is a greate example of how this idea can work in practice.

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: September 26, 2006
BAYANGA, Central African Republic
The New York Times

The first thing they tell you here is not to play with the gorillas or the elephants.

A young male elephant gored a young Italian woman here when he attempted to play with her. And if you creep too close to the gorillas, a 375-pound silverback will charge you and, if you’re lucky, stop inches from you and slap the ground in rage.

But even if you can’t play with the animals, you can ogle them — and there are few places in the world as good for that as this remote jungle where the Central African Republic, Cameroon and the Congo Republic come together. And now the three countries have joined forces to preserve this jungle by establishing adjoining national parks that cover an area the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

It’s part of a growing trend that deserves strong support from the West: poor countries seeking economic opportunities by protecting nature rather than pillaging it. The grandest and most unlikely of these experiments is this one, for the Central African Republic may be the single most wretched country in the world: life expectancy is 38, and every year it falls by another six months. One-fifth of children die by the age of 5. Outside the capital, government is only a rumor.

Yet while many national parks in Africa exist primarily on paper, this one is real. Game wardens patrol vigorously: they pursue poachers across international borders, and seized 70,000 snares last year alone.

Read entire article

National parks seeing fewer camping visits

2006-09-25T23:04:00.000-06:00

Sep 25, 11:37 AM EDT

National parks seeing fewer camping visits

The Park Service reported that overnight stays in national park fell by 13.8 million, or 20 percent, between 1995 and 2005 and have fallen an additional 4.3 percent in the first eight months of this year.

The Park Service said tent camping dropped 23 percent, backcountry camping 24 percent and RV camping 31 percent in the 10-year period.

Visits to "gem parks" in the intermountain region, which include Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain, dipped between 2 percent and 15 percent during that time.

"Let's face it: It's hard to protect the parks if no one is interested in them," said Park Service statistician Butch Street.

---

Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com

The “Social Trail” Problem: Myth or Reality?

2006-09-21T22:00:00.000-06:00

To: Participants in the OSMP Visitor Planning Process

From: Guy Burgess

Subject: The “Social Trail” Problem

Date: May 5, 2004

The area in which I believe that I could make the greatest contribution to ongoing Visitor Plan deliberations is with respect to the “social trail” problem. I thought that the best place to start would be by doing a realistic and current assessment of the scope of the problem. To do this I took the social trail map embodied in the current draft Visitor Plan and set out, with my digital camera, to document the current status of the social trails marked on the map. This information together with the experience of having hiked extensively in this area since the late 1960's has enabled me to create a current and accurate map social trail use in the area. (See attachment.) My principal conclusion is that the current situation is vastly better than that implied by the clearly outdated map contained in the draft plan.

The construction of new climber access trails, the closure of many undesirable social trails, and changing attitudes of the vast majority of park visitors have resulted in the effective abandonment of a great many of the marked trails. In virtually all cases the scars are well on the road to recovery. These trails are marked in gray on the map.

It's interesting to note that the trails that are taking the longest to recover are those that were deliberately constructed and involved the significant recontouring of the land. This fact suggests that future trail planners should realign existing, serviceable trails only when there are clear environmental or visitor enjoyment benefits. In the past trail realignments have created networks of braided trail corridors which mar the land for decades. Unconstructed paths, even those with substantial erosion problems, seem to heal much more quickly when abandoned. For example, it's now hard to find the steep and highly eroded social trail it used to connect Gregory Canyon with Crown Rock. (This social trail was replaced a few years ago by the new switchback trail). I can show you constructed trails that are still clearly visible even though they have been abandoned for decades.

A great many of the social trails marked on the map almost certainly resulted from the lost rock climber effect. In the absence of clearly marked descent routes, climbers on steep and vulnerable terrain create a braided and destructive patchwork of routes. The construction of clearly marked access trails eliminates this problem by channeling traffic into a single corridor. Construction of the First Flatiron, Crown Rock, and Amphitheater access trails has virtually eliminated the social trail problem in these areas. Something as simple as cairned, climber access routes in the areas west of the Amphitheater, on the north side of the First Flatiron, and on the south side of the Second Flatiron could eliminate the remaining problems at very little cost. Remember climbers don't need expensive and environmentally destructive switchbacks. They are used to hiking steep trails. Cairns suggesting the best route combined with some simple educational materials are all that's needed. My map indicates a number of areas in which such consolidated access routes are needed. (Blue lines in brown areas.)

Role of Urban Wilderness

2006-09-13T22:42:00.000-06:00

From an ecological perspective the most important role of wild areas adjacent to urban centers is the building of human/environmental connections. It is these connections which ultimately underlie public support for a broad range of environmental goals. Preservation of urban wilderness at the cost of undermining environmental constituency building is likely to be a great mistake.

Obligation to Provide Visitor Access

2006-09-11T22:16:00.000-06:00

Assuming that the recreational opportunities embodied in the Open Space and Mountain Park system represent an important part of our community's quality of life, then we, as a community, have a moral obligation to preserve, to the maximum extent possible, those opportunities for future generations. At a minimum this means planning for visitor increases proportional with increases in the community’s population. Beyond this there is an obligation to extend these opportunities to serve a larger portion of the population (should they desire it). And, these obligations are not just limited to citizens of the City of Boulder. As a community blessed with extraordinary natural beauty, we also have an obligation to allow continuing and increasing visitor access from the larger metropolitan area. (After all, we enjoy a great many of the amenities contributed by these communities.)

Facts and Values

2006-09-07T20:39:00.000-06:00

Anyone involved in a public policy making process needs to be clear about the distinction between fact finding and the making of value judgments. All policy making ultimately boils down to choices between alternative courses of action. These choices are ultimately based upon fact-finding predictions of the likely consequences of each alternative under consideration. While the most reliable fact-finding efforts tend to be based upon well-funded and well-executed scientific research there are also "other ways of knowing" (generally based upon deep personal experience and thoughtful, honest reflection) that can fill in many of the inevitable gaps and expensive, scientific research. Fact-finding also has its limits. Even the best research is unlikely to eliminate important risks and uncertainties. The world is simply too complex and chaotic and fact finding resources are inevitably limited.

By contrast, value judgments are based on subjective, public assessments of the desirability of alternative policies. They involve a choice between alternative futures and the policies designed to bring them about. In cases where significant uncertainties remain about the likely consequences of alternative policies, value judgments must also be made regarding the level of acceptable risk. These value judgments are not and should not be the province of technical experts. Rather, they should result from the collective moral judgments of affected constituencies.

The Overprotective Librarian Syndrome

2006-08-31T22:52:00.000-06:00

Remember the old story about the librarian who thought that the perfect library was one in which all of the books were neatly lined up on the shelves in brand-new condition? What the librarian failed to realize was that the library’s true potential could only be realized by accepting wear and tear on its resources. The same can be said for Open Space and Mountain Park land.

While it is imperative that effective steps be taken to limit damage to environmental resources, we need to remember the reasons why these resources are being protected. While some of these reasons stem from a moral obligation to protect natural flora and fauna for their own sake, the rest result from the desirability of building rewarding human/environment connections.

When I first presented this idea at a Boulder Open Space meeting I was told by a member of the staff that they liked the idea! Unfortunately, what they wanted to do was (seriously!) be the over-protective librarian!

Visitor Pathway / Trail Types

2006-08-21T20:53:00.000-06:00

Topic: Environmental Policy
There are a lot of different pathways into Open Space and Mountain Park lands, each serving a different purpose and requiring a different administrative philosophy. The traditional distinction between officially mapped and signed trails and forbidden social and off-trail travel is inadequate. We propose the following alternative structure.

Showcase / Featured Trails and Viewpoints
The Boulder Mountain Parks offer exceptional scenery worthy of at least national monument designation. As such it is not surprising that the land constitutes a major attraction for visitors from around the nation and the world. As a community with the good fortune to live in such a wonderful place, we have a moral obligation to share our good fortune with visitors. Of particular importance are a small number of showcase trails and viewpoints—these are the places where residents take out-of-town visitors. For us this is the Chautauqua area, the Flagstaff highway and viewpoints, and the NCAR nature trail. These places sustain high levels of traffic requiring substantial hardening of facilities and the acceptance of inevitable crowding.

Primary Trails
These are, with a few exceptions, the major trails marked on the official Open Space and Mountain Park map. It is toward these areas that most traffic is being directed.

Secondary Trails
Included in this category are the many constructed, maintained, and heavily used trails that are not included on the official maps even though they provide ecologically responsible access to a broad range of rewarding routes and destinations. (See discussion of unmapped trails on the trails page.) Currently information about these trails is available only to open space neighbors and other "insiders." Their existence raises serious questions of equitable access. It is important that taxpayer-funded public lands not be seen as being reserved for the exclusive use of specific groups.

As an alternative, compromise approach information about these trails could be provided by small, on trail signs and with informative, "additional" or "secondary" trail brochures, perhaps distributed over the Web and at OSMP visitor centers. Without such information people can hardly be blamed for routinely exploring any and all social trails.

Destructive Social Trails
Not all currently identified social trails qualify for secondary trail status. Many are ecologically damaging, duplicative of existing major trails, and of little interest to visitors. As a general rule OSMP staff should continue ongoing efforts to discourage travel along these trails. Still, it would be desirable to provide some sort of petitioning process through which users could ask that favored, informal trails be granted secondary trail status.

Off-Trail Travel
Finally, there is off trail visitation which provides important access to a variety of opportunities for adventure and solitude which would not otherwise be available. This kind of access can continue to be provided in ecologically sound ways by encouraging visitors to follow off-trail travel rules such as those suggested below. The dissemination of such rules is particularly important since it is, for all practical purposes, impossible to effectively enforce bans on off-trail travel.

Unconventional Environmental Connections

2006-07-07T20:46:00.000-06:00

Topic: Environmental Philosophy
There are a number of widespread human activities which reflect human desires to connect with the natural world that are commonly overlooked or even condemned by the mainstream environmental movement. These include, for example, the deep connections that people to develop with domestic animals -- dogs, cats, and horses, for example. There is also the role that gardening plays in the lives of people who have lost the agricultural connections which are so central to human history. Beyond this is the human drive to engage in adventurous activities with intense physical exertion. These activities resonate with our evolutionary history in ways which passive theme parks, movie theaters, and computer games can't hope to duplicate. Rather than pushing people away from such activities, environmentalists should be encouraging them.

Cohabitation

2006-05-31T22:54:00.000-06:00

Topic: Environmental Policy
Advocates of "separation ecology" often argue that it is undesirable for animals to become accustomed to human presence. By contrast, connection ecologists view it as desirable for human and non-human species to "learn to live together." Such "cohabitation" requires first that humans learn to leave these animals alone and respect their genuinely critical habitat (as they do in Boulder with increasing sophistication). Such habitat protection measures include, for example, the avoidance of areas immediately around nesting sites and the construction of new, "compensatory" habitats such as wetlands and nesting boxes. Once animals become confident of their security, however, they are almost always able to adapt to human presence. And, this adaptation enables them to inhabit much larger areas than would otherwise be possible. After all, genuinely human-free areas are going to be in increasingly short supply.

Role of Urban Wilderness

2006-05-07T22:29:00.000-06:00

Topic: Environmental Policy
From an ecological perspective the most important role of wild areas adjacent tourban centers is the building of human/environmental connections. It is these connections which ultimately underlie public support for a broad range of environmental goals. Preservation of urban wilderness at the cost of undermining environmental constituency building is likely to be a great mistake.

Unconventional Environmental Connections

2006-05-07T20:46:00.000-06:00

Topic: Environmental Policy
A number of widespread human activities which reflect human desires to connect with the natural world are commonly overlooked or even condemned by the mainstream environmental movement. These include, for example, the deep connections that people to develop with domestic animals -- dogs, cats, and horses, for example. There is also the role that gardening plays in the lives of people who have lost the agricultural connections which are so central to human history. Beyond this is the human drive to engage in adventurous activities with intense physical exertion. These activities resonate with our evolutionary history in ways which passive theme parks, movie theaters, and computer games can't hope to duplicate. Rather than pushing people away from such activities, environmentalists should be encouraging them.

User Fees / Sweat Equity Option

2006-05-01T22:50:00.000-06:00

Topic: Environmental Policy
While certainly affordable, there are increased costs associated with connection ecology programs and environmentally responsible visitor plans. And, in a society as wealthy as ours, there is no reason why visitors can't help cover these costs. Still, one of the real attractions associated with environmental recreation is that it is accessible to all income groups. So, we suggest that any user fee program include a component which allows visitors to substitute sweat equity for cash payments. For example, participating in an all-day trail construction and maintenance program could entitle visitors to a free one year pass.