Land Management Partner of the Year

El Paso County Parks was named the Land Management Partner of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Field Institute.

“RMFI’s history with El Paso County Parks dates back to the Black Forest Fire in 2013,” said Jennifer Peterson, executive director of RMFI. “Since that time RMFI has been working very closely with El Paso County Parks to complete a wide variety of burn restoration projects in public lands impacted by the fire. Since that time our scope of work has certainly increased. In the last few years we’ve been working with El Paso County Parks completing a significant amount of restoration work in the Bear Creek Watershed, the Jones Park portion of the watershed that is now managed by the County.”

“We have enjoyed a long and effective working relationship with the Rocky Mountain Field Institute conserving our special places in the El Paso County Parks system and we are deeply honored to receive the 2018 Land Management Partner of the Year Award,” said Tim Wolken, Director of Community Services for El Paso County.

Recent projects include:

• Trail construction and stabilization, trail decommissioning, tree planting. and creek bank stabilization in Jones Park
• Single track trail construction in Pineries Open Space.
• Forest management efforts, tree planting, and social trail decommissioning in Black Forest Regional Park

“We are sincerely appreciative of the partnership and look forward to continuing that partnership for many years to come,” said Peterson.

The award was presented at the Rocky Mountain Field Institute’s annual Fall Shindig on November 15.

For more information on the Rocky Mountain Field Institute, https://www.rmfi.org/

El Paso County Parks oversees 8,000 acres of park land and open space, 2,400 acres of conservation easements, 105 miles of trails, two nature centers, the El Paso County Fair and Event Center and more than 1,000 recreation and environmental education programs. www.elpasoco.com\parks