The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, faced with dueling bids from the Jefferson Parkway and Golden to purchase a sliver of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, said it expects to select a winner by the end of the year.
In January, board members for the parkway voted to acquire the strip, totaling 100 acres, along the eastern edge of the refuge, paralleling Indiana Street, for $2.8 million. The board, made up of officials from Jefferson County, Arvada and Broomfield, plans to use the land for the toll highway’s right of way.
Last month, Golden upped the ante, offering $3 million to buy the same sliver of the refuge, and pledging to turn it into a regional bikeway and pedestrian trail.
Golden has been transparent about its goal: Stop the advance of the toll road project.
In letters sent Thursday to parkway officials and Golden Mayor Jacob Smith, Fish and Wildlife regional director Stephen Guertin said his agency will complete an environmental review by Dec. 1 that will assess both offers for the refuge land as well as a separate transaction — related to the parkway’s bid — that involves Jefferson County, Boulder County and the city of Boulder.
Those three entities have proposed to buy 640 acres along Colorado 93, adjacent to the wildlife refuge on its western edge, and preserve that land as open space by conveying it to the Fish and Wildlife Service for inclusion in the refuge. The deal also involves the acquisition of mineral rights.
Guertin said that once the environmental study is complete, Fish and Wildlife expects to close on the sale of the refuge land by Jan. 1.
In a statement on Friday, Golden said its “bike and pedestrian trail would be much less impactful than a toll road.”
The parkway “has pushed its toll road plan with the attitude that it is inevitable and communities like Golden that have legitimate concerns should just roll over or get out of the way,” Golden City Manager Mike Bestor added in the statement.
Kate Newman, Jeffco’s assistant county administrator, said Golden’s proposal — unlike the parkway’s — provides no additional highway capacity for the area.
And she added: “Golden’s proposal puts at risk the agreement that Jeffco, Boulder County and the city of Boulder have been working on to expand the refuge.
“We are going to enhance the refuge and help relieve congestion,” Newman said.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
