Colorado & the Southwest THERE IS SO MUCH TO BE PROUD OF IN 2023 AND MORE TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE YEAR AHEAD
Celebrating 50 Years of Impact, Thanks to You!
Trampe Ranch © X AVIER FANE
Since the beginning, TPL’s vision has been rooted in a singular belief: that access to the outdoors is essential to people’s well-being. What started as a bold idea in a small San Francisco office 50 years ago has blossomed into a nationwide movement to ensure everyone, no matter where they live, can experience nature’s countless gifts. At this special milestone, we celebrate the incredible network of TPL advocates who make our work possible and catalyze our future efforts. With your support, we have made an impact on some of the best-known and most-visited places in Colorado and the Southwest. Together, we preserved iconic landscapes like Colorado’s Fishers Peak State Park, New Mexico’s L Bar Wildlife Management Area, Arizona’s Saguaro National Park, and Utah’s Zion National Park. And we have created parks that enrich the daily lives of community members, most recently in Colorado Springs, with the revitalization of Panorama Park. These incredible public spaces bring neighbors together, uplift local economies, and deliver critical, nature-based solutions in the face of climate change. And we are just getting started! It is an exciting time to be a part of the TPL community as we look to new opportunities to connect to nature, our histories, and 2 |
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each other. In the upcoming year, we celebrate the expansion of our Community Schoolyards© program, the creation of a new 1,000-acre open space park in Colorado’s fastest-growing county, and the acquisition of new lands for the Bonneville Shoreline Trail along Utah’s Wasatch Front. With your enduring support, we will continue to build parks and protect land, connecting everyone in Colorado and the Southwest to the outdoors. Thank you! James R. Petterson Vice President, Mountain West Region Colorado and Southwest Director
Community Schoolyards© in Colorado There are more than 90,000 public schools across America, and nearly every one includes a schoolyard. And yet, too few of these schoolyards are open to the public for use during non-school hours. And an even smaller number— less than five percent—are designed with the kinds of green space and play features that the school and greater community need and deserve. This is especially true in marginalized communities, where underinvestment has been the status quo for far too long. These untapped resources are a solution to closing the park equity gap in Colorado and the Southwest. Through its Community Schoolyard program, TPL partners with local schools to transform undeveloped schoolyards into vibrant, green spaces that improve the daily lives of students, educators, and the surrounding community. We are developing partnerships and projects with four school districts across the state, from rural communities like Clifton to fast-growing urban centers like Colorado Springs. In every community, our schoolyard projects promote a healthy lifestyle, reduce educational disparities, and improve educational outcomes while making vulnerable communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change. These park-like spaces are open to the community after school hours and can help address public health, student learning, and climate change. Our Community Schoolyards are not a product but a process. We invite the entire school—students, teachers,
Bricker Elementary School participating in a design workshop © TPL STAFF parents, and staff—as well as neighbors and local partners to make their voices heard. Each Community Schoolyard is uniquely designed by the community to best meet their needs. Typical features include outdoor classrooms, accessible playgrounds, pollinator habitats and gardens, and public art. Our process is fun and educational; students gain valuable experience in team building, problemsolving, and critical thinking as they design their schoolyard. According to teachers and school administration, attendance, behavior, and test scores all improve after schoolyard renovations, and we look forward to extending these benefits to students across Colorado and the Southwest.
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A Park for All at Panorama Park In August 2022, a newly renovated Panorama Park reopened to the public in southeast Colorado Springs, presenting over 70,000 residents who previously lacked access with 13.5 acres of vibrant outdoor spaces packed with amenities and brimming with trees, shrubs, and native grasses. TPL teamed up with partners like community-led initiative RISE Southeast and the City of Colorado Springs to leverage $8.5 million and transform the formerly barren park into a game-changing example of park equity and accessibility. TPL worked with residents and community partners to design the new park specifically to address the area’s historical and persistent inequities, including exposure to higher temperatures and its impact on public health. Southeast Colorado Springs is about seven degrees hotter than surrounding neighborhoods, and life expectancies in the neighborhood are 10 to 12 years shorter than in other areas of the city. To counter the heat, Panorama Park now boasts 250 newly planted trees, 20 shade structures, and a splashpad. PHOTOS: © OLIV EDIA PRODUCTIONS
With plenty of ways to keep cool, visitors can take full advantage of the new bike park and skateboarding area, hammock zone, climbing boulder, fitness station, sports fields, and a great lawn—all within view of majestic Pikes Peak and the surrounding mountains. To meet the varied goals of southeast Colorado Springs’ increasingly diverse community, we created a universally accessible playground for all ages and abilities, including wheelchair accessible play equipment and innovative structures to engage and meet the sensory needs of autistic children. One feature is the Quiet Nook. Resembling a green igloo with round windows, it provides a calm, insulated space for children to take a break from playing and socializing. More than the sum of its parts, Panorama Park is a living testament to the community’s vision. At the reopening, representatives of community groups, elected officials, and residents turned out to celebrate the vibrant new green space. Among them was Ashley Cornelius, the Pikes
Peak poet laureate. Against a soundscape of laughing and squealing children, Cornelius reflected on the resilience of the community and the promise of the park. “Meet me in the place where we gather in love and light, a once-desolate land now reinvigorated by the passion of the people,” she read. “We did not fix a community, nor give it something it never had. We shined a light on the hearts of the southeast of Colorado Springs.”
“This is collective work, but we are not finished,” Cornelius urged the onlooking residents. “We need you to play. Use imagination on open field and jungle gyms. Pickup basketball games and leave everything on the courts. Experience joy with abandon… Exercise and move your body… Find yourself in the shade next to loved ones. Create poetic magic in the presence of nature. Fantasize about ideas that will change the world. Explore here. Play here. Heal here.”
CORE Fellows This year we say farewell—for now—to TPL’s Colorado CORE Fellows, Jeresneyka Rose and Chris Urias, as their two-year fellowships come to an end. These two community champions have left an indelible mark in Colorado and across TPL, and we cannot wait to see their continued impact in the future. Over 50 years, we have learned that deep, holistic community engagement is the key to scaled and lasting change. In 2021, we established the Community Outreach with Resident Experts (CORE) Fellowship to codify our community-centered approach while identifying and compensating local leaders for their lived experience and knowledge. Through this fully paid and benefited twoyear fellowship, Jeresnekya and Chris contributed to a variety of projects, led community-organizing passion projects of their own design, and worked with TPL’s local and national staff to take their careers to the next level. Artist, educator, and activist Jeresneyka Rose first connected with TPL through our partnership with RISE Southeast, a nonprofit in her home of Colorado Springs, to reimagine Panorama Park as a transformational community hub. Among her many accomplishments during her CORE Fellowship, Jeresneyka led and managed the co-creation of two mural-scale mosaics at Panorama Park, composed of thousands of tiles crafted by residents. “Over 7,000 tiles make up a vibrant mural that represents the community’s identity,” she says. “With the themes of ‘stepping into our power’ and ‘sharing our light,’ the mural
Jeresneyka Rose
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celebrates the diversity and unity of southeast Colorado Springs.” From early neighborhood meetings, Jeresneyka saw what makes TPL different: “Before TPL, the process was more like, ‘We are going to design a park with our landscape architect, and we’ll go to two community meetings and whoever Chris Urias shows up, shows up, and © ABIG AIL L AFLEUR-SHAFFER that’s it.’ But from day one, this was so organic and grassroots and community driven. If you give people a microphone, they will show you what they can do.” Outdoor educator and advocate Chris Urias found his way to TPL through his longtime connection to Denver nonprofit Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK), where he rose from youth participant to urban ranger to program coordinator. Through the CORE Fellowship, Chris received a “crash course” in all things outdoors: trail development, schoolyard renovations, land conservation, and park activation. For his self-identified passion project, Chris led a group of ELK’s young urban rangers to evaluate and activate the nearby Civic Center Park. “With the amount of people using that park, there is a high-need for more activities,” he says. Like Jeresneyka, Chris embraces the idea that organizations like TPL succeed when they listen to a community and stick around. “Growing up here, there were many groups that wanted to help Black and brown folks. I think the thing about Trust for Public Land that makes us different is that we really engage and really care,” he says. “I’m a testament to that. They were able to hire me as a CORE Fellow, and now I get to work with the urban rangers.
It’s a cycle of continuous engagement, which is amazing. It’s hard work, and it takes time. But that’s how you do it right.”
The Future of CORE In 2024, we plan to hire four new CORE Fellows—two in Colorado and two more in communities across the country. We need your support to take this program to the next level and continue it as a model for best-in-practice community engagement across the nation! Reach out to learn how your investment can support community leaders to become the next generation of conservation professionals.
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50 Years of Protecting National Treasures in the Southwest Game-changing outdoor spaces like Panorama Park and partners like the CORE Fellows embody TPL’s uniquely community-centered approach. As we celebrate 50 years of connecting people and communities to the outdoors, we look back on some of the most iconic spaces TPL has helped protect in Colorado and the Southwest.
ZION NATIONAL PARK, Utah Zion National Park draws over 5 million visitors annually due to its diverse topography, soaring sandstone cliffs, mystical slot canyons, cascading waterfalls, colorful hanging gardens, lonesome desert plateaus, and clear-flowing rivers. TPL has worked since 2000 to ensure that recreational access in and around Zion National Park remains uncompromised—including a 50-acre inholding that borders the park boundary along Kolob Terrace Road at the base of Lamb’s Knoll, a sandstone butte eroded into slots and hoodoos that is popular with rock climbers, that we anticipate conveying to the National Park Service in early 2024. © CHRIS HINK LE
SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK, Arizona The saguaro cactus is remarkable for its slow growth and long life: the saguaro grows to only 1 inch during its first 13 years but can eventually reach 35 feet high, and the average life span is 150 to 175 years. True to its name, Saguaro National Park has the densest population of saguaros in the region. Since 1993, TPL has protected over 2,200 acres in and around Saguaro National Park, improving access and connectivity to Tucson’s big backyard. In 2023, we added a key 40-acre property to the park, connecting it with the very popular Sweetwater Preserve—a 900-acre open space and mountain biking trail network owned by Pima County—and we have several more projects with the Park underway. © TONDA /ISTOCK
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RÍO GRANDE DEL NORTE NATIONAL MONUMENT, New Mexico Sweeping plateaus, native grasslands, essential wildlife habitats, and prehistoric footprints add to the beauty and significance of Río Grande del Norte. This geographically dense, archaeologically rich, and ecologically important landscape epitomizes land needing protection. Since 2003, TPL has completed nine projects, protecting nearly 22,000 acres, and we are currently working on our tenth, which will expand the national monument. © DAV E COX
BONNEVILLE SHORELINE TRAIL, Utah The vision for the nearly 300-mile Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST)—100 miles of which are complete—originated in the 1990s. With a housing boom underway, residents knew that they had to move fast to combat sprawl and protect their quality of life. TPL has led efforts to expand and protect the trail by acquiring 25 parcels along the BST corridor, covering nearly 2,000 acres. Eighty percent of Utah residents live within 20 miles of the trail. More than a quarter of TPL projects in Utah involve land along the BST. © MIK E SCHIRF
NICODEMUS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, KANSAS In the years following the Civil War, formerly enslaved African Americans left the South and moved west to Kansas as part of post-Civil War migration and westward expansion. It was here that Nicodemus, the oldest and only remaining historic Black settlement west of the Mississippi River, was founded in 1877. Nicodemus was designated a National Historic Site in 1996. Following the designation, TPL helped protect the African Methodist Episcopalian (AME) Church and, in 2022, we secured a site for a future visitor center. Important places, like Nicodemus, tell meaningful stories. By preserving them, we enshrine our history and culture for future generations. © LE AH E VANS
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The People Behind the Work Kara Buckley Colorado & the Southwest Advisory Board
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Antonnio Benton Project Manager, Colorado Parks for People The compelling opportunity to collaborate with communities facing limited or nonexistent access to outdoor and green spaces drew me to TPL. I was intrigued by the chance to make a meaningful impact and foster positive change through outdoor improvements within communities facing similar disadvantages to my childhood community. The prospect of utilizing my education and skills to create equitable and inclusive outdoor spaces resonated deeply with me. As my increasing understanding of the importance of outdoor spaces for well-being deepened, I became increasingly enthusiastic about enriching accessibility for those who are most in need. Ultimately, TPL’s commitment to addressing this issue aligns perfectly with my values and aspirations.
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I am passionate about Western rivers. Thus, my first introduction to TPL was where the Taylor and East meet: at the Almont Boat Ramp at the headwaters of the Gunnison, the largest tributary of the Mighty Colorado River before it leaves our state. It is base camp for our family and the entire Gunnison Valley community to jump on rafts and kayaks to flyfish and adventure. It was TPL that helped open that access point to all. Follow the East River north from Almont back home to Crested Butte, and the view you experience is like no other. It is a breathtaking, jaw-dropping, 360-degree vista of open ranchland, majestic mountain peaks, and clear, wild rivers. By working with Trampe Ranch, TPL helped facilitate the preservation of thousands of those acres. These two transformative TPL projects—one creating access for our community to beloved rivers, the other creating pathways for our working ranches to thrive through conservation and sustainability—are just two of the many reasons I am a dedicated advocate of TPL and its impactful, invaluable work. I am also passionate about common ground. As a political scientist living in Colorado’s Third District, I am drawn to TPL because I believe it operates outside partisanship, drawing on what we all have in common on the Western Slope—a deep connection to mountains and rivers and wild open spaces. In a time of visceral political polarization, TPL transcends partisan boundaries by recognizing and respecting the gamut of interests in our rural communities. By forging diverse coalitions of stakeholders, TPL is a much-needed bridge between Red and Blue counties, protecting critical landscapes and livelihoods tied to the land, while ensuring all have access to mountain trails and stretches of river so critical to our communities, to our physical and mental health, and to our sense of place.
Happy Haynes
ARIZONA, COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, AND UTAH ADVISORY BOARD
Colorado & the Southwest Advisory Board and TPL National Board Member It was TPL’s land-for-people mission that first compelled me to join the board. I continue to believe that connecting all people to nature will improve their lives and inspire them to care about our communities and our planet and act to protect them.
Jonathan Adelman (Board Chair) Tara Alderfer, Speak Our Minds Brian Braa Kara Buckley, Crested Butte Institute
The passion and commitment of both staff and volunteers binds us together like a family in our community-centered work. I love the way that TPL attracts and embraces diverse talent and perspectives with such purpose.
Dennis Carruth, Carruth Company Chris Chavez, Chris Chavez Consulting
Whether it is an inner-city playground, a vast landscape or a cultural treasure, the same spirit drives every program and project, from fundraising to community celebration. Every time I meet a new volunteer or visit a project, I want more. TPL has a big tent, and I am excited to keep bringing new people into the tent!
Steve Coffin, Steve Coffin Strategies Chris Corroon, Axis Realty Group Dana Crawford, Urban Neighborhoods Inc Andrew Eiseman Greg Felt, County Commissioner, Chaffee County
Michael Patrick
Anna Forkner, Aspect Foundation
Senior Project Manager
Beverly Griffith
I am so grateful for the opportunity to work for TPL. With the help of so many colleagues over twenty-plus years, I have been able to protect lands across five states for urban parks, nature preserves, cultural and historic sites, ranching, sportsmen access, river trails, and so much more. Working at TPL has enabled me to follow a path of right livelihood, be part of a TPL legacy in the places we have delivered our landfor-people mission and bring a lot of passion and creativity to each project. It has also given me the chance to partner with some amazing people, both inside and outside our organization. TPL empowers each of us with the tools, resources, and support we need to help communities achieve amazing park, trails, and conservation outcomes.
Happy Haynes* Scott Ingvoldstad, Olsson Peter Kirsch, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell Mike LaMair, RiverBank LLC Chris Miller, Everside Health Kim Morss Kimberley Sherwood, Nonprofit Coach, Consultant, Facilitator * Also serves on the National Board
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CURRENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES Our work in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah is made possible thanks to the generosity of foundations, companies, and individuals like you.
THANK YOU for helping improve the health, equity, and climate outcomes for communities in Colorado & the Southwest. We could not do this without you.
Community Outreach with Resident Experts (CORE): Support youth and rising resident leaders as they help their local communities envision and create the great outdoor spaces they need to thrive. Community Schoolyards©: Transform barren schoolyards into vibrant green spaces for learning and play and help build our Colorado Community Schoolyards Program. Wildlands: Conserve our region’s most iconic and imperiled landscapes. Black History and Culture Initiative: Join us as we create, protect, and activate public spaces of historical and cultural significance to Black communities across the country. Leave a Legacy: Create an even bigger impact by making a gift through your will, trust, charitable gift annuity, charitable remainder trust, beneficiary designation, or appreciated assets. Trust for Public Land: Give a gift to connect everyone to the outdoors in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah—and beyond.
Ali Fernandez Associate Director of Philanthropy 720.798.4862 ali.fernandez@tpl.org
Join us Help ensure everyone has access to the outdoors. Every park we create, schoolyard we transform, trail we extend, and landscape we protect is thanks to supporters like you. tpl.org/donate
Jim Petterson Vice President, Mountain West Region Colorado & Southwest Director 303.863.8485 jim.petterson@tpl.org 1410 Grant Street Suite D210 Denver, CO 80203
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