As most of you know, almost all of our trail runs are on Jefferson
County Open Space (JEFFOS) parks and trails. There is a meeting tonight about
North Table Mountain. I invite other trail runners to join me, and/or become in
the long run. Please read on.

JEFFOS parks are a great resource. JEFFOS does a good job of working
with trail users, mainly through their Trail Users Task Force (TUTF).

The TUTF is made up of hikers, bikers, and equestrians, as well as
staff and advisory board members of JEFFOS. Over the past several
months, I have been working with the TUTF to bring a trail runners
voice to their discussions. I am looking to get more trail runners
involved.

Tonight, at 7pm, there is a meeting to discuss trail and parking plans
for North Table Mountain. The TUTF has asked me to attend the meeting.
I invite any of you to join me there. The meeting is at the JEFFOS
offices, 700 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden, 303-271-5925,
http://jeffco.us/openspace/index.htm

Over the longer term, I am looking for others to get involved to make
sure that the trail runners voice is heard. The goal is to make sure
that trail runners voice/needs is taken into account. If you are
interested in getting involved, or learning more about the issues,
please drop me a line. This is open to anyone who reads this, whether
or not you are on the group, or run with us.

JEFFOS began in the early 1970s, funded from a sales tax increase.
Over 3+ decades, JEFFOS has done a fabulous job buying, developing and
maintaining parks and trails. JEFFOS is very open to user and public
input.

The TUTF was created initially to resolve conflicts between the
different user groups (hikers, bikers, and equestrians). The role of
the TUTF has evolved over time to include input into new and existing
park development plans.

The biker group, especially, has done a very good job developing their
constituency and making their concerns known. This has come in
response to some recent plans to make some North Table trails off
limit to bikers. The bikers have a few well established bike clubs and
e-mail groups to facilitate their organizing efforts.

Until last winter, there was no representation from trail runners.
Since then, I have been working through the hiker group, more broadly
defined as foot access. Both JEFFOS and the hiker group has been very
open to my input. The Denver Trail Runners may represent the only
organized resource for area trail runners.

Adam