Where else? Where but amazing Denver would you go to city parks that range from the top of a mountain to the plains and five life zones between?
That was the marveling message about Denver Mountain Parks in Associated Press stories across the nation before the Democratic National Convention here last August.
Our mountain parks would be the envy of any city in the world, an amazing legacy from civic leaders a century ago, who had the unbelievable foresight to establish these beautiful places to be protected and developed for the public’s enjoyment.
The entire state’s 1900 population was 539,700, and Denver in 1912 about 200,000, so there weren’t the fierce development pressures that spawned 40 other open space groups half a century later.
But they knew these lands were an irreplaceable legacy for Denver’s citizens, and took steps to ensure we’d have them to enjoy decades later. Remarkable trails and outstanding buildings enhanced the lands. Denver’s Mountain Parks are so significant that they are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This legacy includes 22 developed parks and 24 conservation/wilderness areas, today scattered among four counties, who partner well with Denver, even spending some money for facilities on Denver parks in their counties. Red Rocks is probably the best known, and it’s the only one that makes money.
Others are 89-acre Winter Park ski area in Grand County – providing $2.2 million annually to Denver parks department, 1,000 acre Daniels Park – with buffalo! – in Douglas, 7 parks totaling 2,780 acres in Clear Creek and 36 parks of 10,271 acres in Jefferson.
Recent surveys show that at least 68 percent of Denver households, or 400,000, visit a typical mountain park at least once a year. Add Red Rocks, Buffalo Bill and Mount Evans and it goes to three million. Another survey found that many of those visitors didn’t realize they were at a Denver (ital) Mountain Park.
The mountain parks are 14,141 acres of Denver’s 20,000 acres of parks. And get a scant one percent of the park system’s operating budget, and three percent, or about $200,000, of its capitol budget. The mountain parks had a dedicated 0.5 mill levy from 1912 to 1956, and if that were still in place, it would have yielded about $4.2 million last year for the parks maintenance, etc.
Unfortunately it was stopped, and so funding and future of the mountain parks has been precarious at times. I’ve written for the Post since 1958, and there have been several “Why does Denver have these parks? Why don’t we sell them?” rounds by those oblivious to their true and intrinsic value.
These are the lands that invite people of all ages and family sizes and income to have a mountain experience, to get acquainted with nature, have a picnic by a stream, take a hike, have a rare solitary meditation. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. rode horseback in the foothills to select sites for his original 1914 plan, choosing lands for watershed and view values, the tops of peaks, waterways, wilderness areas.
The first was 5,700 acres purchased at $1.25 an acre from the U.S. Forest Service when the land was threatened by timbering in 1912.
Now Genesee Park, a clause in the sale states that if ever the land is not used as a park, it reverts at no cost to the forest service.
Actually 93 percent of the mountain parks have similar deed restrictions so they can’t be sold. That was a wise protection against the short-sighted who only see temporary money value.
Happily Mayor John Hickenlooper and citizens decided it was time for a more positive outlook for the mountain parks. He appointed a 50 member advisory committee which spent 18 months looking at the mountain parks and making recommendations.
This dedicated group crafted the Denver Mountain Parks Master Plan, with project manager Susan Edwards Baird, natural resources planner for Parks and Recreation, and consultant Tina Bishop, and major funding from Great Outdoors Colorado and The Denver Mountain Parks Foundation, formed in 2005.
Released in January, the Master Plan is fascinating reading, with an abundance of historic maps, old photos, interesting stories; download it at http://denvermountain . The 156-page book version is $35; order from susan.baird@denvergov.org.
Master plan recommendations, including new funding sources and improved identification for the parks, can restore these historic lands to world-class quality if Denver and its citizens start now.
“Mayor Hickenlooper wants to plant a million trees in Denver and we have a million trees in our mountain parks that already help us be a “green city,” noted Bart Berger, founder and president of the Denver Mountain Parks Foundation. “The greatest challenge is to get Denver citizens to appreciate what we have in our mountain parks, and to understand they are stewards for what we’ve inherited. The continued threat is apathy. The most hopeful thing is this re-invigorated interest and effort, and the good relationship we have with neighboring counties to care for and enjoy these great lands.”
Denver Post columnist Joanne Ditmer has been writing on environmental and urban issues for The Post since 1962. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
