Synergy: Partners for Parks
This year, as the DMP system celebrates its centennial and JCOS parks its 40th anniversary, seems a great time to explore the common ground. Despite the differences in timing, they also share dedication to providing outdoor recreation opportunities to the public, as well as, in many cases, even their geographical boundaries.
In 1912, when Denver began to look outside its boundaries for parkland, the City hired Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., to help plan its mountain park system. Olmsted identified more than 41,000 acres of potential parkland, but Denver only acquired about a quarter of it.
Since the passage of the Open Space resolution, launched by PLAN Jeffco and passed by voters in 1972, the County has acquired some of the remaining acres from the 1914 plan, as well as other connecting parcels, giving central Jeffco a wealth of protected areas and public recreational opportunities.
Parks visitors often don’t realize which system of parks they’re using, especially as the two entities have cooperated to provide trail linkages that make the park user’s experience more seamless. In 2013, the DMP Foundation produced a book featuring John Fielder photos, and many of those spectacular scenic images reveal the continuing relationship between these two park systems.
We congratulate both entities on their anniversaries and the work they’ve done to provide outdoor enjoyment to generations of Denver and Jefferson County residents and visitors.