GOCO board awards $350K grant to permanently conserve the High Line Canal

The Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) board awarded a $350,000 grant to support the High Line Canal Conservancy’s (the Conservancy) work to permanently protect the High Line Canal as a regional open space.

The grant is part of GOCO’s Land Acquisition program, which supports urban and rural landscape, waterway, and habitat protection priorities and improves access to the outdoors.

This 71-mile, 860-acre corridor provides valuable recreation access for the Denver-metro region, winding through some of its most diverse communities and connecting neighbors to schools, community centers, and over 8,000 acres of parks and open spaces. The Canal spans communities in Denver, Douglas, Adams, and Arapahoe Counties, passing through a diversity of Front Range ecosystems along the way.

The High Line Canal is in a time of transition as its owner,

Villager BOOK REVIEW

Apples Never Fall

Apples Never Fall was published in 2021 by Liane Moriarty.

I was already a fan of this author from her books Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret, and What Alice Forgot. I knew I liked Morairty’s style of writing, and I was not disappointed with her latest book. The author is Australian, and the setting of Apples Never Fall is modern day Sydney. The book begins asking the question, “If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?”

The four adult Delaney children must figure out what to do when their mum is nowhere to be found. Their father seems guilty of something. Could the disappearance be linked to a strange visitor to the family home six months prior? Lots of secrets to unravel. Relationships of each sibling and the parents are revealed. This book is part mystery and part comedy that kept me guessing and changing my thought of

Denver Water, reduces its reliance on the Canal for irrigation delivery. The Conservancy is planning for its future as a recreational, ecological, historical, and stormwater resource.

“Permanent protection of the Canal has been a top-line goal of ou r board and organization since the beginning in 2014. It’s extremely exciting to be actively working with Denver Water, Arapahoe County and other local governmental partners toward a permanent protection vehicle,” says Harriet Crittenden LaMair, High Line Canal Conservancy CEO.

To date, GOCO has invested $33.6 million in Arapahoe County and partnered to conserve more than 2,200 acres of land there. GOCO funding has supported Cherry Creek State Park, Mary Carter Greenway, South Platte Greenway, Buckley Air Force Buffer, and the Generation Wild community Sheridan Inspire, among other projects.

Running with Sherman

Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) invests a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds to help preserve and enhance the state’s parks, trails, wildlife, rivers, and open spaces. GOCO’s independent board awards competitive grants to local governments and land trusts and makes investments through Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Created when voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1992, GOCO has since funded more than 5,600 projects in all 64 counties of Colorado without any tax dollar support. Visit GOCO.org for more information.

To learn more about Lisa and her books, visit her website, www.LisaJShultz.com.

To read more book reviews, follow her on Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/ LisaJShultz. Lisa loves speaking to groups, and she would be happy attend your book club. Call her at 303-881-9338.

what happened all the way through. I really liked listening to the reader on Audible. I was very entertained by this book, and I look forward to more novels by Moriarty.

Published in 2019 by Chris McDougall, this is a book that runners and non-runners will enjoy. McDougall agreed to take care of a donkey rescued from an animal hoarder. He wasn’t sure the donkey, who he named Sherman, would survive initially. McDougall’s family lived in the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country. As they began a rehabilitation program for the sick donkey, many others also became involved within their community. Eventually McDougall set his sights on training Sherman for burro racing in Fairplay, Colorado. This goal involved lots of running and assistance of others to make going to the race in Colorado a reality.

This true story shows the life-changing power of animals when rescued and brought into the fold of our lives. The tale is inspiring, and I learned a lot about donkeys, Amish life, burro racing in Fairplay, and the power of community when one sets out to achieve a seemingly impossible goal.

To learn more about Lisa and her books, visit her website, www.LisaJShultz.com.

To read more book reviews, follow her on Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/ LisaJShultz. Lisa loves speaking to groups, and she would be happy attend your book club. Call her at 303-881-9338.