14ERS CENTENNIAL VISIONING
February 2023 Statewide Forum Report
FORUM PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES
Over one hundred participants gathered on February 21, 2023, for a half-day online workshop to explore ways to ensure Colorado’s 14ers remain healthy, accessible, and carefully sustained Hosted by the National Forest Foundation and Envision Chaffee County, and facilitated by the Civic Canopy, the forum allowed diverse stakeholders from across Colorado to assess and revise a draft vision statement and engage in deeper dialogue on the tensions and gaps that stand in the way of bringing that vision to life.
Emily Olsen from the National Forest Foundation welcomed participants to the day and explained that the purpose for the Forum is to provide an opportunity to weave together the many existing related efforts into a shared vision and a common framework for identifying solutions Steve Lohr, Deputy Regional Forester for the US Forest Service, thanked the many organizations who have built successful partnerships working on the 14ers in Colorado, and pledged the Forest Service’s continued commitment to leverage this visioning process that funding from GOCO has made possible.
RESPONDING TO THE VISION
The participants were presented with a draft vision statement created by a core planning team and divided into breakout rooms to provide feedback and assess what resonated, what was missing and what could be improved. The draft vision statement presented at the Forum included the following elements:
• Peak appropriate, sustainable trails
• Equitable access
• Beneficial relationship with host communities
• Enjoyable peak appropriate experiences
• Thriving wildlife, healthy alpine plants, clean waters
PROJECT
The14ersCentennialVisioning
Projectaimstocreatealasting statewidecoalitionthatworks togetheron:
• Developing a shared, statewide vision for meeting trail sustainability, resource protection, and outdoor recreation access goals at the most popular 14ers.
• Supporting locally focused approaches to implementing that vision through concrete plans that balance competing needs.
• Securing long-term, sustainable funding to care for Colorado’s 14ers.
Attendees by Sector
Trails & Wilderness (40%)
Forest Service/BLM (38%)
Regioinal Wildlife Management (7%)
Outdoor Equity (4%)
Alpine Resources (4%)
Youth Perspectives (3%)
Search and Rescue (3%)
Indigineous Perspectives (1%)
In general, participants appreciated the emphasis on seeing each 14er as unique; affirmed the emphasis on equitable access; underscored the interconnectedness of the mountains, people
using them, and nearby communities; and felt the vision was well-balanced and inclusive of most concerns Suggestions for improvement included moving away from too much focus on just the peaks to seeing the whole landscape; balancing the emphasis on people and natural systems; including a specific reference to balancing access while preserving Wilderness; making it clearer and more concise; and inspiring a shared culture across Colorado to build support from the diverse partners who will be needed to bring it to life. That feedback is being incorporated into subsequent drafts of the vision what will be shared with forum attendees as the process moves forward.
DISCUSSING PROBLEMS, TENSIONS AND GAPS
The second portion of the forum shifted to discussing the possible obstacles in the way of achieving the shared vision problems, tensions, and gaps. Problems are challenges that can be solved through effective solutions, gaps are resolvable by acquiring the proper resource or recognizing underappreciated existing assets, and tensions are polarities that require constant balancing of competing values that do not necessarily ever resolve once and for all When managing tensions, it is critical to recognize the competing poles of a given issue e.g., balancing access to the 14ers so more people can enjoy them with protection, so natural resources are not degraded or depleted. Too often, these tensions are treated as either/or conflicts, leading to “us vs. them” polarization. The better path is to uncover the two poles that are in tension, and acknowledge the potential value of each alongside the potential risks of focusing too much on that pole at the expense of the other
PANEL PERSPECTIVES
To highlight different views of the problems, tensions and gaps that exist in this work and to help jumpstart the small group discussions, four speakers shared their perspectives in a lightning round, 3-minute format Cindy Williams from Envision Chaffee County shared how hard it is on a personal level to see the outdoor places that were so critical to upbringing in Colorado, and that influenced who she is as an adult, having become so degraded with trash and human waste that they are not worth visiting any more At a larger level in her work with Envision Chaffee County she has seen how trail access has improved to places like Columbia and Harvard peaks, but with it has come more than eighty campsites at timberline, where people are using 200-year-old Krummholz trees for fires wood. These point to gaps in resources for the land management agencies, parking, and ways to manage human waste. Survey results support this as well, where 70% of the over seven hundred respondents agreed that natural
Top Problems, Tensions, and Gaps
• Insufficient funds and people (20)
• Tensions between wilderness/wildlife and recreation (18)
• Friction between different user groups (14)
• Lack of education, information (12)
• Interagency conflicts (8)
• Impacts on host communities (7)
• Parking management (6)
• Waste management (6)
resources on the 14ers are degraded, 75% say retaining healthy forests, water, and wildlife is a top concern, and 38% said the quality of their outdoor experience is declining Lloyd Athearn from the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI) shared that in the 30 years that CFI has been working with the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, he has seen how building out a network of sustainable trails has allowed more people to access the peaks without causing more damage to the rare and fragile alpine tundra. One of the tensions CFI addresses is the perception that use equates to impact, and that the focus on 14ers is a problem where he has seen how focusing people on well-made trails protects the environment better than having people ascend peaks without sustainable trails in place. At the same time, he acknowledges that making it possible to support more people from the “trailhead up” does not mean that increase is not causing challenges from the “trailhead down.” Josh Voorhis, a US Forest Ranger in the South Park District, spoke about the tensions caused by trying to raise funds to sustain trails to peaks on private land, since owners could decide to restrict access at any time, and how to balance maintaining positive relationships with land owners while still advocating for public access to these peaks. Another challenge is providing enough parking for all the people who want to access the trails, while not creating unsafe conditions that limit the ability of search and rescue vehicles to get through Increased access has also meant towns like Alma, whose municipal watershed includes 14ers, must be concerned about the sanitation issues of human waste and overuse Vanessa Saldivar from Get Outdoors Leadville (GOL) noted that a central tension related equitable access is that concerns over increased use of trails have led to efforts to limit access through permits and other means, and that this effort is in tension with efforts to expand access to historically marginalized groups like the Latine community in Lake County, who often face barriers to access even though the 14ers are the backdrop of their lives Vanessa noted that as Latine families feel increasingly comfortable and welcome, they also increase their sense of belonging and stewardship, highlighting how a seeming conflict between limiting access and advancing equity is really a key tension that must be managed strategically.
Participants then met in small groups to discuss the factors that affect Colorado’s ability to achieve this vision. Participants were asked to imagine all the different perspectives that lead visitors and community members to the 14ers and to identify the problems, tensions, and gaps that need to be addressed to ensure their continued health. Common themes emerged across the various groups, highlighting the key gaps (funding and public information), top tensions (enabling recreation while protecting Wilderness and wildlife; frictions between different user
groups and between different agencies), and problems (impacts on host communities as well as parking and waste management).
ALIGNING EXISTING RESOURCES
The final portion of the Forum was dedicated to brainstorming all of the existing resources that can be drawn upon in further steps of this process to advance the vision. These included listing specific organizations working on different aspects of the vision, funding opportunities, coalitions, specific initiatives, legislation and local policies, volunteer efforts, technology tools and applications, maps, interpretation and translation services, DEI resources, educational programs, marketing campaigns and more. The full list is included in the Forum slide deck and will be organized and refenced in the regional forums and in the development of the operational plan.
CLOSING AND NEXT STEPS
Jackie Miller, Executive Director for Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), closed the Forum by thanking all of the participants, acknowledging the complex cultural history that surrounds these peaks and ranges, and highlighting the many planning efforts with which this visioning effort overlaps. She emphasized GOCO’s continued commitment to invest in this effort to bring diverse voices together to support a common vision for Colorado’s iconic landscapes and to find innovative solutions for the challenge of preserving them for future generations
The notes from the vision discussion as well as the small group dialogues on gaps, tensions and problems will help inform the design the three regional workshops over the summer to help generate solutions that will serve the needs of local communities while still supporting the larger statewide vision. Part of this work will involve developing appropriate metrics to help evaluate progress toward the vision, and to help identify which strategies and solutions will best address the gaps, tensions and problems identified in the forum.
Regional forums will be held during summer 2023 in three regions Central Mountains (e.g., Chaffee County, Lake County, the Sangre de Christo Range) hosted in Buena Vista; Front Range (e.g. Clear Creek, Summit County) hosted in Georgetown; and the SW region, hosted as a multisite, hybrid model so multiple communities can take place. Specific dates and times will be finalized in early April.