On Tuesday July 11th, Governor Polis, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Great Outdoors Colorado issued a press release announcing the fourth round of grant recipients for the Outdoor Regional Partnership Initiative. The Outdoor Regional Partnership Initiative supports coalitions across the state that are working to ensure our lands, water, and wildlife continue to thrive as well as our many recreational opportunities here in Colorado. This additional round of funding added two new coalition members, now totaling 16 across the state.

PPORA is excited to announce that we are a recipient of this round of funding, receiving an additional $128,000 for the Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative. Since the first round of funding in 2021, PPORA has spearheaded the  Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative (OPPI), a conservation and recreation vision plan for the Pikes Peak region of Colorado.

 

Since the initial award, OPPI has established a number of building blocks and goals including:

  • Development of a Stakeholder Task Force made up of land managers and outdoor nonprofit and business leaders to serve as subject matter experts throughout this planning process
  • Partnership with UCCS to develop the Outdoor Pikes Peak Data Hub which communicates outdoor-related information and data to the public. This additional funding will support the expansion of the data hub by creating a multi-layer mapping tool using the existing CODEX application.
  • Evaluation of over 100 previous regional planning documents, while also connecting with land managers to seek their input and needs relating to the existing and future plans for our local region.
  • Analysis of sixteen outdoor recreation destination management models to identify innovative strategies as they are relevant to the Pikes Peak region. The additional funding supports this effort to make appropriate recommendations for improved and sustainable management practices for the region.
  • Ensuring the community voices are heard through public engagement which has included 11 community listening sessions, an online survey, various pop-ups, and a number of meetings with our local elected officials.

With the additional funding, the Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative will continue to conduct various public engagement sessions and surveys, gathering concerns, priorities, and ideas/solutions from our community. While in phase two of our planning process, we are working in smaller focus groups to identify recommendations for the vision plan, balancing conservation and recreation values for the Pikes Peak region. Stay tuned as we announce the next round of community listening sessions for Fall 2023 where we will be asking the public their input on the draft recommendations!

Thank you to our funders, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Great Outdoors Colorado, with matching dollars from LART, for your continued support with this planning effort! Read more on our process to date and follow along with the Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative here!