The Important Role of Trails and Open Space

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What are open space and trails? Open space can be characterized as land left in a primarily natural state containing significant natural, aesthetic, or cultural features that warrant protection. Land designated as open space is permanently protected, not a temporary designation for vacant lands.

Trails provide linkages between open space areas and public access to open space areas and, in many instances, serve as linear areas of open space.

Why do we need trails and open space? Trails and open space enhance a community's quality of life. Trails and open space help us maintain our western character and safeguard the visual interest which has brought so many people to our region. As our communities continue to grow, our need for trails and open space grows. More growth means more people accessing limited resources and depleting existing open space resources.

Communities all over the state realize the need for trails and open space and are rapidly expanding their trail networks and acquiring open space.

To continue to enjoy our tremendous natural environment, we will continue to need to preserve and protect our natural features and areas.

Trails and open space are important for a variety of reasons:

RECREATION. Trails provide easily accessible and low cost outdoor recreation for an incredibly diverse group of people. Walking, running, pushing a stroller, roller blading, bicycling, horseback riding, bird watching or studying nature are just a few of the things that can be done on trails. Properly designed trails provide the disabled access to the outdoors experience. While some trail activities are more expensive than others, most activities can be enjoyed very inexpensively.

Much of the open space within the Pikes Peak region is accessible by trails. Open space provides opportunities for bird watching, wildlife observation, hiking, biking or horseback riding within our incredibly diverse Front Range environment. Unfortunately, the amount of open space on the Front Range is limited with more and more of the natural setting and vacant lands being replaced with urban growth.

TRANSPORTATION. Trails provide safe, alternative transportation routes between work places, parks, residential areas, shopping, and schools. Unlike some modes of transportation, trails are available to everyone, including children, seniors and the disabled. Bicycling and walking require less space than motor vehicles, thus increased use of non-motorized travel helps decrease roadway congestion. Perhaps the biggest transportation benefit is the opportunity trails provide for travelers to go to and from their destination in a more relaxed fashion, without having to face the tensions of everyday road traffic.

ENVIRONMENT. Increased use of trails and availability of open space provide a significant opportunity to help our environment. The greatest environmental benefit of bicycling and walking is the decreased use of fossil fuels of which we have become so dependent. As all Front Range residents know, we are constantly battling air pollution problems during winter months.

Wetlands filter contaminants in surface runoff. Trees and shrubs cleanse the air. Open space and trail corridors provide sanctuaries for trees and shrubs to grow and, in fact, many trails have special plantings done to improve the trail corridors.

WILDLIFE AND RIPARIAN PROTECTION. Trails and open space provide the opportunities to protect habitat and wildlife while providing means to observe and learn about these species.

The Front Range abounds with a variety of wildlife through its many diverse ecosystems. Riparian zones exist along Pikes Peak waterways and provide homes for hundreds of species of wildlife. Riparian zones offer a sharp contrast to the mountain or plains environment so typically found along our Front Range. Each of these areas has habitat essential to our native wildlife. Trails also provide passageways for wildlife to transverse our urban area as well.

HERITAGE. Open space and trails provide ways to observe and protect our heritage. Many of our open space areas are lands donated by our founding fathers. Trails provide us access to these areas. The New Santa Fe Trail, for instance, follows much of the historic Santa Fe Railroad which was first used in the late 1800s. Trails and open space give us the opportunity to protect and preserve lands and buildings of historic or cultural interest which link us to our past.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS. Trails and open space provide significant economic benefits. They can create jobs, enhance property values, expand local businesses, attract new or relocating businesses, increase tax revenues, and promote our community.

The effect on property values of a location near a park, trail or open space has been shown to increase sales prices, increase the marketability of adjacent properties and promote faster sales. An increase in property values generally results in increased tax revenues for local governments.

Trails and open space enhance a community's quality of life and are one of the main factors in a company's relocation decision. Sites adjacent to trails are more attractive to prospective tenants.

TOURISM. Trails and open space attract tourism. Many Colorado communities have benefited by focusing on the visitors trail systems bring to their area. Our region has the same opportunity. Completion of the Spine Trail along Monument and Fountain Creeks will give us a 33-mile long trail running from Palmer Lake to Fountain Creek Regional Park. It goes by the beautiful Elephant Rocks area, passes through the Air Force Academy, winds through Monument Valley Park in downtown Colorado Springs and finishes in a beautiful county regional park.

When additional regional trails are connected to the Spine Trail, our area will become even more attractive to tourists as a destination. As the trail network expands, the Pikes Peak region could become a bicycling mecca able to compete with Moab, Durango and Summit County.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS. Increased levels of trails use can result in significant benefits in terms of health and physical fitness, not only for the individual, but for the community as a whole. Activities that build strength, endurance, balance and flexibility have been shown to protect against injury and disability. As our communities continue to grow and become more condensed, our need for the relaxation provided by trails and open space become more important to our mental well-being.

Trails in the Pikes Peak region provide significant opportunity for residents and visitors to exercise for health and fitness. Most trails are easily accessible and many are of easy to moderate difficulty which could meet virtually everyone's needs.

EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES. Trails and open space in the Pikes Peak region give us great opportunities for education programs. Our youth can learn about wildlife, habitat and geology in a safe environment. They provide us opportunities as adults to teach our youth to be responsible for the environment and to be good neighbors.

WHERE DO TRAILS AND OPEN SPACE COME FROM?

Significant areas such as Palmer Park and Garden of the Gods Park were donated many years ago and those donations remain as the largest source of public open space. However, significant donations have plummeted since the late 1930s. Communities in the Pikes Peak region have developed trails and open space master plans and update them periodically . These address the funding, acquisition and development of additional trails and open space. However, funding of the implementation of these plans has always been a problem. Other means to acquire public open space include purchase, leasing (Section 16), trading or land dedication; however, the growth of open space has not kept up with the population growth or development. Private open space may be secured through open space tracts, preservation areas, conservation easements or land trusts.

Trail corridors in the region are acquired through many of the same mechanisms as open space and built through a variety of funding sources. Most of our neighbors along the Front Range have dedicated trails and open space funding resources. In the Pikes Peak area, only Manitou Springs in the Pikes Peak area has an open space and trails tax. Trails are very expensive to build, as much as $100,000 a mile, with land acquisition and bridges adding to the cost. Only a few trails are funded through grants from the Colorado Lottery or the Federal government, but these require significant local matches, so only a few miles of trails get built every year. Only 50 miles of the City of Colorado Springs Trails Master Plan have been built. It has been estimated that under current funding, it could take between 40 and 100 years to complete the trails network. Other communities have the same restrictions.

Open space acquisition faced many of the same problems. There were no dedicated funding sources and most of the open space faces development pressures which makes it very expensive to acquire.

The City of Colorado Springs passed a one-tenth of one percent sales tax in April of 1997 to provide funding for trails, open space and parks (TOPS). It is estimated that this tax could raise as much as $80 million over the twelve year lifetime of the tax. The ballot initiative requires at least 60% of the funding to be for open space and no more than 20% for trails and 20% for parks. The TOPS Working Committee, a 9-member citizens group, was formed to research and develop priorities for funding. They receive input from three technical teams, representing each of the three areas eligible for funding - trails, open space and parks. The Executive Director of the Trails and Open Space Coalition is a member of the trails and open space technical teams.

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