All the News About Denver’s Best Residential Community Since 1960 • Volume 60, Issue No. 7 • July 2021
Save Open Space Sues Denver Over Park Hill Golf Course Land Development Efforts. High-Profile Plaintiffs Include Former Mayor Wellington Webb, Former Lawmakers, Community Leaders Editor, GPHN
All Hail The Narwhal Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge Gets Massive Budget Boost For Urban Conservation Programs Story and photos by Reid Neureiter For the GPHN
Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Ed Perlmutter examine a 7-foot long tusk from a protected narwhal — the storied unicorn of the sea — at the National Wildlife Property Repository.
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge has been awarded a hefty annual $1 million-dollar budget increase, establishing it as a national flagship for urban conservation education. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Regional Director Noreen Walsh made the announcement on June 12 on the banks of the Mary Lake fishing pond at the Refuge, five miles north of Park Hill. Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Congressman Ed Perlmutter were on hand, along with an enthusiastic crowd of staff and volunteers, including members of the board of the Friends of the
A special place for many Perlmutter, who represents Colorado’s 7th Congressional District that includes the Refuge, was delighted with the funding increase. The Arsenal, he said, was in competition with other urban refuges around the country. During his remarks, Perlmutter explained that he had a friendly wager with a member of Congress from the Philadelphia area who was rooting for the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, which consists of 1,000 acres of tidal marshland near of the Philadelphia airport on the Delaware River. But Perlmutter proudly noted that the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Refuge encompasses more than 15,000 acres just a stones’ throw from Denver’s urban metropolis, and is home to whitetail and mule deer, coyotes, a thriving herd of bison, bald eagles, prairie dog towns, and the nation’s most endangered mammal, the black-footed ferret. It was, he said, no contest. Bennet was accompanied by his wife Susan Daggett, an environmental lawyer and executive director of the Rocky Mountain Land Institute at DU’s Sturm College of Law. He praised the Refuge as a “place so special to so many people” and welcomed
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Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Ed Perlmutter (center, front row) with U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff on the banks of Mary Lake fishing pond at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge on June 12.
Ready To Roll? Park Hill Parade Returns July 4 Monaco Crash Claims Lifelong Park Hillians Neighbors Turn Out To Welcome Safe Outdoor Space To Park Hill
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Front Range Wildlife Refuges, and representatives of the environmental nonprofit Groundwork Denver. With a current operating budget of $1.8 million, an additional $1 million every year will allow the Refuge to substantially expand its urban wildlife conservation program. The funds will allow the Refuge to improve infrastructure and support community partnerships. “We are thrilled to be able to invest additional resources in providing opportunities for diverse local communities to use and enjoy the Refuge,” Walsh said. “Our vision is for the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge to be a place where all are welcome, and where visitors can enjoy access to the natural world and learn about our native wildlife.”
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Highlighting ongoing collusion between the City and County of Denver and Westside Investment Partners over plans to develop the Park Hill Golf Course land, the citizens group Save Open Space Denver has filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to protect the conservation easement on the property. The suit was filed in Denver District Court on June 23 against the City and County of Denver. Mayor Michael B. Hancock and Laura Aldrete, executive director of the city’s planning and development department, are also named. SOS Denver alleges the City is wastefully spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on a major planning and development process for land that, under Colorado law, cannot be developed without a court order. “The City refuses to address the mandate of the Colorado conservation easement statute, so we’re seeking a court order that it must do so, now,” said Tony Pigford, one of 14 named plaintiffs. The currently nonoperational golf course, in the northwest boundary of the Greater Park Hill neighborhood, has been protected by a conservation easement since
1997. The easement, which prohibits development, was re-recorded in July 2019, when the Glendale-based Westside Investment Partners bought the 155-acre parcel for $24 million. Westside principals were generous contributors to Hancock’s reelection that year. Despite the conservation easement, Westside has indicated plans to develop the property. Last year, the city’s Planning and Development Department launched what it calls a “visioning” process, in conjunction with the developer, to proceed with a plan. Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, speaking at an OctoIn the complaint, the ber, 2019 Save Open Space Denver press conference. Former plaintiffs allege the process state Sen. Penfield Tate is to the right. Webb and Tate are two “is effectively a real estate of 14 plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed last month. File photo by development joint venture Cara DeGette project between the City and planning and development, refers to WestWestside Investment Partside as the city’s “client.” Another example ners,” which began shortly after Westside cited occurred during a January 2021 City purchased the property. Westside is not a Council Budget and Policy Committee named defendant. meeting, during which Aldrete stated that Among the supporting documents, obthe city’s planning and development protained under the Colorado Open Records cess for the Park Hill Golf Course land is Act, is an internal email, dated Dec. 19, 2020, in which Aldrete, Denver’s director of continued on page 7
The Deal Is Done At Johnson & Wales Campus
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By Cara DeGette
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Green Space vs. Hancock
Inside This Issue
Reflections On George Floyd, BLM, And Hopes For A United America
Upcoming GPHC Meetings Community meetings are currently conducted virtually on the first Thursday of each month. The next meeting is Aug. 5 at 6:30 p.m. There is no meeting in July. Link to attend at greaterparkhill.org/ join-us/community-meetings/
the funding increase which he said would “help to build relationships to last a lifetime with the outdoors.” Refuge Manager David Lucas said the budget covers the entire Colorado Front Range National Wildlife complex, which includes the Arsenal, the 5,237-acre Rocky Flats Refuge in Golden, and Two Ponds, a 72-acre refuge in Arvada. The Refuge currently has only 12 permanent employees, although that number is augmented in the summer. Lucas has already begun the hiring process for bilingual staff at the Refuge Visitor Center. During the first year of increased funding, the staff will also invest in infrastructure projects that improve accessibility and connect refuge lands to local communities through pedestrian pathways and nature play areas.
Caring for the eagles After the announcement, Bennet, Perlmutter and Daggett toured two other unique U.S. Fish and Wildlife facilities on the Refuge grounds: the National Eagle Repository and the National Wildlife Property Repository. The Greater Park Hill News was the only media outlet covering the event. The National Eagle Repository is the place where all recovered dead bald eagles and golden eagles are sent. The eagle carcasses are examined and cleaned by USFW wildlife repository specialists, documented, and then sent to requesting native American tribes for use in cultural or religious practices. It is illegal for any person who does not have a federal permit, or who is not an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe, to possess an eagle or eagle part — whether it be a head, talon, or even a feather. Wildlife Repository Specialist Laura Mallory said the repository receives 10 to 15 eagle carcasses a day (approximately 3,000 birds a year). Most are killed by car strikes continued on page 13