Colorado Outdoor Regional Partnership Initiative

BACKGROUND - THE WHY

The San Luis Valley’s expansive landscapes and abundant recreation opportunities contribute significantly to quality of life and economic vitality. The San Luis Valley is often considered a hidden gem in the state, and residents often find themselves alone on the trail. However, our public lands are progressively seeing an uptick in visitation, impacting both natural resources and recreational experiences. Many of our trailheads and campgrounds are seeing higher use than ever before, and are becoming overrun and unequipped with adequate infrastructure to manage the high demand. Many areas throughout the state are seeing these impacts at a much greater magnitude, having to deal with the consequences of the sheer volume of visitors leading to overcrowding and increased conflicts. The San Luis Valley is in a somewhat unique position in that our visitation numbers are significantly lower than places closer to the front range, and we have the foresight to proactively plan for increased recreation and be able to learn from others across the state that have experienced just that.

In the summer of 2021, the SLV GO! Coalition was selected to be a part of the Colorado Outdoor Regional Partnership Initiative to advance conservation and recreation planning for the San Luis Valley region. This statewide initiative is funded jointly by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to ensure that our state remains a world-class outdoor recreation destination while preserving our land, water, wildlife, and quality of life and providing equitable access and quality outdoor recreation experiences.

PARTNERS - THE WHO

From the coalition’s inception in 2013, we had a group of citizens, educators, and community leaders who recognized the tremendous opportunity to enhance recreational experiences, improve wellness, and connect the communities across the six-county region of the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado. Today, the coalition is a partnership between land management agencies, land trusts, local government, nonprofits, economic development agencies, agricultural entities, outdoor recreation users, sportsmen, and conservationists.

THE INITIATIVE - THE WHAT

SLV GO!’s role in this initiative is to create a regional conservation and recreation plan that incorporates local needs and conservation and outdoor recreation priorities of the San Luis Valley. Our regional plan, along with the plans of partners across the state, will inform and shape the creation of a statewide conservation and recreation plan. SLV GO! is extremely proud to be a part of this initiative, and we are looking forward to working with residents of the San Luis Valley to ensure their voices are heard at the state level.

TAKE OUR SURVEY!

The SLV GO! Coalition recently released the San Luis Valley Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Survey that will collect community input in regards to resident and visitor satisfaction, priorities, and perceptions of outdoor recreation and natural resource management in the SLV.

Survey participants have the opportunity to win a gift card from Kristi Mountain Sports in Alamosa, a free ski or snowboard rental at 8200 sports in South Fork, or a half day raft trip for two with Mountain Man Rafting out of South Fork!

The survey will take approximately 15 minutes.

Create your own user feedback survey