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Open Space is essential to the quality of life in Boulder County.
That one little sentence just about sums up all of what people of various persuasions can agree upon when it comes to public land management. But, as always, the devil is in the details. How much open space is enough? How should it be managed? What is the appropriate balance between passive recreation and environmental preservation? How can we minimize conflicts among various user groups? What about agriculture?
People of good will but differing strongly-held beliefs currently have no means of working out a meaningful consensus on these issues. Members of boards and commissions are traditionally appointed from the top down, serve their terms, and vanish. The public is granted a three-minute opportunity to express its views to the respective land managers, formally, from a podium, with no opportunity for dialogue with staff, the board, or each other. Instead of alliances and communication, open space advocates have been forced into adversarial, divisive factions. Study sessions are convened at which the public is tolerated but not allowed to participate. There is currently no institutional memory for decisions that may have been made in prior years, and no common ground for making future decisions that various stakeholders can buy into.
Open Space: Our Common Ground
To start people thinking about a new way of addressing some of these issues, a diverse group of citizens formed a steering committee and spent many months last summer organizing a forum they called "Open Space: Our Common Ground". Interested individuals, stakeholder groups, and government representatives were identified and invited to participate on the steering committee and on a panel discussion during the forum. The public was invited by mail, radio, and newspaper ads to participate in the forum as well. On September 21, almost 150 people came together at the East Boulder Community Center to share their views on how we can all participate in making our wonderful community assets -- Open Space-even better. The discussion got rather lively at times, which was exactly the point. At the conclusion of the forum, the Directors of both the City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks and the Boulder County Parks & Open Space programs expressed their support for the Common Ground process, and interested citizens volunteered to continue the dialogue via the newly formed "Common Ground Committee" (CGC).
The CGC has met several times since then. We have summarized the comments made by the public and staff at the forum, and have made this document available to the public land managers. A summary report, "Our Common Ground," is available at the Boulder Area Trails Coalition's website,
bcn.boulder.co.us/batco, and a videotape of the proceedings is available from emills@att.net (a $5 contribution is requested).Mission Statement
The Common Ground Committee's mission is to promote citizen participation in, and understanding and support of, the preservation, management, and use of Open Space and other public lands in Boulder County and surrounding areas.
Action Plan
The committee agreed that its primary objective is to help improve the ongoing process of interaction and communication between the public and the decision makers. We have identified the following recommendations on how to get there:
1. Invite all open space stakeholders to join us in discussions of open space matters in a civil, constructive atmosphere.
2. Encourage each stakeholder group to identify resources it can bring to the table.
3. Recommend that each Open Space department make available a clear outline/flow chart of the open space decision process, with key input and decision points identified.
4. Facilitate interactive discussions between staff and stakeholders, including appointing official liaisons between boards, commissions and citizen groups.
5. Involve stakeholders in the formation and drafting of management plans and activities.
6. Act as an intergovernmental liaison in open space matters.
7. Promote collaboration between government and citizen groups in conducting additional forums on specific open space issues (e.g. prairie dogs, trails, mountain biking, weeds, etc.) in the future.
8. Explore additional ways to become an effective voice for common ground on open space issues and policies.
Working Together
We recognize that some stakeholders initially may be reluctant to participate if they believe that compromise is undesirable or that common ground cannot be attained. We also recognize that finding common ground will be a long process and will require steadfast commitment. However, consider the alternative: stakeholder groups that continue to squabble in public about the management of our shared public lands. Instead, we believe that knowledgeable people who work together to solve common problems will learn to respect each other, and that consensus can often be found if participants use an open, iterative, objective, and public process.
The CGC has recently prepared a power-point presentation about the Common Ground Forum, recommendations, and action plan. We would like to present it in person to as many governmental and civic groups as possible. For more information, please contact Ann Mygatt, Hm.303-449-8007 Cell: 303-931-1221 or
abmygatt@aol.com.The first forum showed that we can indeed find common ground with regard to open space, and that by working together we can succeed in the long term as well. Visualize Common Ground. Endorse consensus and expect success. We urge you to join us!
By: Jan Buhrmann, Judy Enderle, Ken Foelske, Ed Mills, Ann Mygatt, Kevin Probst, Dick Schillawski, Barbara Taylor, and Suzanne Webel, for the Common Ground Committee.