BROOMFIELD — Discussions have begun between three Democratic members of Colorado’s congressional delegation and communities near the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge to collaborate in transforming the surrounding area into “the crown jewel of open space.”
Trail connectivity, wildlife corridors and mountain backdrop preservation were among the issues explored Tuesday by Sen. Ken Salazar and Reps. Ed Perlmutter and Mark Udall at a meeting at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.
Salazar stressed that local land-use control is paramount, with decisions made by counties and cities about where development is appropriate and which parcels are critical for open space.
Delegation members can assist efforts by wheedling dollars out of Washington.
“We can build on local success and come up with a description of where the (open space) holes are on the map and what we can do together,” Salazar told officials from Jefferson and Boulder counties and adjacent cities.
The 6,000-acre Rocky Flats site, where nuclear weapon triggers were manufactured from 1951 to 1989, is 16 miles northwest of Denver.
“Rocky Flats is the key to all this,” Perlmutter said. Cleanup was completed in 2005 and the wildlife refuge came into being last July, and “now it’s time to figure out what happens next.”
A master plan for the refuge has been created by local officials, but there is no money — estimated at about $3 million — to implement it.
Jeffco Commissioner Kathy Hartman said cash-strapped officials are forced to balance open-space purchases with development that brings property-tax revenues.
“Some areas need to be protected,” said Boulder County Commissioner Ben Pearlman, who urged a “common vision” on how to acquire critical parcels.
The group will meet again in about two months.
