02.11.16 Statement by Tim Hogan OSBTAttachment to Feb. 11, 2016 Minutes
(Statement by Ruth Wright and Oakley Thorne – Read by Tim Hogan)
“Those of us involved in the original establishment of Open Space are often asked about our initial
priorities and what we had in mind. It has arisen again in recent discussions concerning the placement of
trails north of town. Let us be absolutely clear, from the very beginning our commitment was to protect
these lands and waters for their inherent value as natural areas. In those days we unabashedly thought of
these areas as part of “mother nature.” Starting in 1959 with the “blue line” limiting growth in the
foothills, followed by the initial Open Space tax in 1967, then an ordinance in 1973 which established an
Open Space Board of Trustees and formalized the purposes for which open space lands could be used,
and finally with the establishment of a separate department in the 1986 charter amendment, this
commitment to protect these ecosystems for their intrinsic value has never wavered. While passive
recreation was always recognized as an obvious asset of these natural areas, the essential motivation
behind the years of work that secured their protection was, in part, to buffer Boulder from urban growth,
but primarily to protect them for their beauty and their fundamental value as preserves of unspoiled
nature. We wanted to protect these lands because they are home to the plants and animals we cherish,
and we viewed them as a precious trust we had a responsibility to preserve for their own sake. We could
not imagine why we would not want to protect them. It never felt like an undue burden to limit some of
our uses, and it still feels like a small price to pay for the benefits. At the 40th anniversary celebration for
the initial establishment of Open Space, our late friend Al Bartlett said, “We have the responsibility to
manage our open space lands and their unique ecosystems so that they can be passed on, ecologically
undiminished, to our children, to their children, and to their children.” Open Space has been fundamental
to our community’s identity. It is a testament to Boulder’s collective restraint that in giving nature a little
room to roam, we have discovered an inexhaustible generosity in her steady solace and beauty.”