Environmental Damage / Human Presence

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

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

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

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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.