Advocacy is at the heart of what we do
Advocacy is essential to getting trails built, preserving open space,
and getting adequate parks funding.
Our work includes helping craft the future for our public spaces, with our partners in government, other nonprofits and community groups, and our members and partners. Our goal is to envision what can be, and work to make the vision a reality.
We joke about how “We go to all the boring meetings so you don’t have to,” but in fact TOSC is at every public meeting where policy, funding or planning for parks, trails and open spaces is discussed or decided—be it City Council, County Commission, Parks Advisory Boards, Master Plan work sessions, TOPS Working Committee, Trails Team, Colorado Springs Utilities, etc.—and is a respected voice for our public spaces. We weigh in on the issues, and report back to the public regularly.
We encourage you to connect with us at the Trails and Open Space Coalition.
We work to create a social and political climate in which local decisions to fund open space, parks and trails are approved and supported. We encourage organizations, businesses and individuals to get involved in the process. Government bodies do listen to their constituents. We help get the word out to the public about what the issues are, what decisions are being made, when public comment is requested, and how to make your voice heard. We listen to all our user groups—hikers, bikers, runners, equestrians—and work to get their concerns addressed.
Recent Advocacy News

News Wednesday Jan 20, 2021
Break-ins at Trailheads 30.1 seconds. That is the average amount of time it takes a criminal to break into a car. Over the past few

News Wednesday Jan 13, 2021
Fountain Creek Regional Trail As many of you recall, 2015 was a destructive year in El Paso County. Heavy rains caused severe flood damage. The Fountain

News Wednesday Jan 6, 2021
New Year’s Resolutions In 2020, TOSC Office Manage, Sharie Dodge, made a New Year’s resolution to reduce her carbon footprint by biking into work 50

News Wednesday Dec 30, 2020
TOPS in 2021 Based on the results of a recent survey, plans to put the TOPS program on the April 2021 ballot were deferred until

News Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
E-bike Survey Update Thank you to those who participated in the recent E-bike Survey put out by our partners at the Colorado Springs Parks Department.

News Wednesday Dec 9, 2020
VIRTUAL TRAIL MIXER Tuesday, Dec. 15, 4:00 – 5:00 PM TOSC Members will be invited to join us for a virtual TRAIL MIXER where we will

News Wednesday Dec 2, 2020
Virtual Wild and Scenic Film Festival Thursday, December 3 @ 5:00 PM Grab the popcorn and get ready to join TOSC and the Fountain Creek

News Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
As a Coalition We like to highlight current and future partners. Blackpackers is a new 501c3 non-profit committed to addressing the gap in representation in
Fall 2020 Parks Ballot Initiatives
This will be an unusual election with two competing park land exchange initiatives.“Protect our Parks,” was created and championed by the same folks who opposed