Nearly a year has passed since Gov. Jared Polis, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Colorado’s Outdoor Recreation Industry Office and other key partners finalized the visionary Colorado Outdoor Strategy, establishing the framework to ensure Colorado’s outdoor recreation and conservation legacy for generations to come.
Now it’s time for action.
Action — in the form of outdoor recreation — has been a hallmark of Colorado’s identity for as long as most of us can remember. And some may still remember when Colorado stood out as a leader in both the recreation and conservation realms. I was drawn to Colorado’s majestic mountains and conservation ethos as a teenager, which was a factor in the decision to relocate the DaVita headquarters here in 2010, recognizing the benefits the quality of life would bring employees.
But large-scale recreational planning has failed to keep up with the growing and evolving demands on Colorado’s outdoors, and our stature among recreation and conservation leaders has clearly slipped. We need a reset.
As participation surges and pressure on our natural resources escalates, the balance between sustaining Colorado’s reputation as a top destination for outdoor recreation and a leader in environmental stewardship has grown increasingly challenging. Colorado’s Outdoors Strategy provides the blueprint for balancing those demands, and the recently-introduced Colorado Outdoors Opportunities Act (House Bill 1008) provides the means to implement it. Passing this bill is a critical step toward restoring our outdoors leadership legacy.
At face value, the bipartisan measure aims to broaden Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s authority over outdoor recreation by giving the agency a clear leadership role in coordinating and managing outdoor recreation, essentially putting strategy into action by ensuring the organizational capacity to support the work.
That includes organizing and implementing the wide-ranging input from a currently overwhelming array of coordinating partners and other state, federal and local government partners; tribal governments; and interested stakeholders, including local communities, private landowners, recreation and recreation provider groups, conservationists, the agricultural community and wildlife and sportsperson stakeholders. As it now stands, merely attempting to schedule a meeting with such a jumbled cabal borders on the impossible.
Beneath the operational structure, however, the beating heart of the Colorado Outdoors Opportunities Act is a call for unity, recognizing the health of the land, and the people, depends upon this symbiotic relationship working in harmony. And I thank Reps. Meghan Lukens and Rick Taggart and Sens. Janice Marchman and Janice Rich for their bipartisan work in sponsoring a bill that establishes that connection.
For too long, Colorado’s outdoors community has been divided between disparate factions, failing to acknowledge our shared passion for the landscape and the urgent need for its conservation. Similarly, the tendency to operate in silos has lingered at CPW since the 2011 merger of Colorado State Parks and the Division of Wildlife, hindering our ability to work together effectively. The Outdoors Opportunities Act bridges that divide.
Though the agency has done a reasonable job of building recreation and conservation programming with the resources at hand, Colorado’s booming outdoor recreation growth is overwhelming the program. Generating $18.1 billion annually, our outdoor recreation economy currently ranks as the 10th largest in the nation and attracts more than 90 million visitors a year, taxing the balance between recreation and conservation. The Outdoors Opportunities Act provides the tools to manage those increasing effects by integrating a full array of recreation considerations into existing land and wildlife management efforts.
Importantly, the measure will also hold CPW accountable for ensuring the work gets done.
By empowering CPW as the leader in coordination between agencies and entities that oversee recreation opportunities and responsibilities, HB-1008 will help minimize conflicts between outdoor uses, establish accountability where currently there is none and bring the vision of the Colorado Outdoor Strategy to life.
Outdoor spaces are vital to Coloradans, with 72% of us heading outdoor for recreation at least once per week. As participation continues to expand, the challenge of maintaining our recreation leadership role while conserving precious habitat in the face of climate change will be formidable.
But it can be done.
Serving on the Global Board of The Nature Conservancy, I recently traveled to impoverished areas of Kenya, where I was captivated by the idea of establishing sustainable solutions that balance what residents call their 4Cs: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce.
At their essence, the 4Cs parallel Colorado’s Outdoor Strategy and its focus on (conservation) safeguarding biodiversity to support global needs, (community) creating positive impact and uplifting communities, (culture) preserving cultural heritage and (commerce) generating a sustainable source of income for the greater good. These principles should be central to Colorado’s identity as a role model for outdoor recreation.
Colorado has both an opportunity and obligation to be the leader in this space, to firmly establish our identity as the pinnacle of outdoor recreation with the twin peak of environmental stewardship. Conservation principles must be woven into our communities for the sake of communal health, just as outdoor recreation is intertwined with our culture and commerce. By passing the Outdoor Opportunity Act, we can meet that obligation and honor the legacy of Colorado’s great outdoors.
Kent Thiry is one of many people involved in developing the Colorado Outdoor Strategy and House Bill 1008. He is a global board member of The Nature Conservancy and former chief executive & executive chairman of DaVita, a health care provider.
