When I was 22 years old, my sister, a friend, and I biked across the western U.S., through Canada, and ended in Iowa. While riding through Nevada, I saw a huge mine that had stripped half a mountain. That night, as we wound down, I thought about how that mountain was going to heal: Is that a job, restoring the land after we humans have pillaged a place? I was overwhelmed with the sense that this could be a calling, helping restore wild places.
When I finished college, I joined the Peace Corps and went to Senegal with a program called Agro-forestry. At its core, it helped small villages in West Africa reverse the downward spiral of fertile land turning into desert. We planted fast-growing trees in combination with crops for soil stabilization, food, income, and ecosystem benefits. In other words, we restored the land.
Then, 26 years ago, I was hired by Boulder County Parks & Open Space. The job was a new one for the department: manager of the Resource Management Division. We had “ologists” of all kinds: plant ecologists, wildlife biologists, foresters, weed specialists, and more, and this position would unite and manage this group.
The department was growing and had enough funding to support some creative projects.
One early project was restoring grasslands after they had been degraded from abusive agricultural practices. This was novel at the time. Most farmland was still being farmed, but here in Parks & Open Space, we were restoring health to this degraded land.
Another early project I was happy to spearhead was turning slash piles into wood chips and heating our Open Space and Transportation Complex with the biomass from our forest restoration projects. This was 20 years ago and a win-win! We put “waste” wood to use and replaced natural gas, a finite, nonrenewable resource, with a very sustainable, renewable heating source.
As director, I am involved in the land-changing practice of purchasing open space and developing new parks. The past four years have been very busy. Two projects highlight the importance of preserving open space in perpetuity. The first is Haystack Mountain. This natural landmark has been in the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan for decades but was always in private hands. When the golf course at its base was sold, we put an offer on the mountain top. We’d had a recent visit from the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes whose ancestors used to live in Boulder County, and they spoke of the importance of Haystack Mountain in their cultural stories. Our price negotiations were miles apart from the seller, who eventually decided to sell the property at an auction held in Hong Kong! Our dedicated real estate staff jumped through hoops to get us into the auction, and we sat in our office on a Tuesday evening, bidding on a natural landmark for Boulder County in this exclusive auction. We won the bid!
Every time I drive the Diagonal or Foothills Highway, or come into Boulder County from the south, Haystack Mountain stands out like a beacon. This iconic property will never have a multimillion-dollar house on it and can be enjoyed by us all, including descendants of the American Indians, who were here long before us.
A second success is Prairie Run. This stretch of East Boulder Creek was mined for gravel. The creek was straightened and denuded by agriculture, and oil and gas was extracted from the area. We planted native grasses, fought weeds, watched wildlife return, ticketed trespassers, and eventually developed a plan for a new park: Prairie Run. At the core of this project is stream and pond restoration. This improved habitat will provide more homes for bald eagles, otters, native fish, and hopefully even the endangered Preble’s meadow jumping mouse. It will also have trails, fishing access, and picnic areas for families to enjoy.
I am grateful to live in this amazing part of the world and to have been a part of supporting open space protection for the past 26 years. I look forward to seeing Boulder County open space continue to be an inviting place for biodiversity and human visitors for many years to come!
