President’s Corner BFTA’s Recent Run - A Decade to Remember!

By Larry Fariss
President BFTA

​For the past 10 years I have had the distinct honor to serve as your Black Forest Trails Association President.  When past president Hank Hoover stepped down in 2010, he handed me a great organization with a long list of service and accomplishments.  Now it is time for me to pass the baton to another as I too, like my mentor Hank, step down from this leadership post effective October 2020.  It got me to thinking, what have we accomplished together this last decade?  To that end I reviewed 10 years of minutes, newsletters and past President’s Corner articles to ascertain our collective impact on the Black Forest Community.  Let’s take a victory lap!

A true measure of an organizations success is how well they reach their stated goals.  So let’s review a set of long term goals our Board listed way back in 2011 and subsequently see how we stand in 2020.

2011 Goal #1:  Finish all items in the County Regional Park Master Plan:  This includes the Section 16 Vault Toilet, Fox Run Dog Park, and a BFRP parking lot.

As of 2020:  All three projects were accomplished and are benefiting park users.
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2011 Goal #2:  Establish a Friends Group for each park in Black Forest:  Currently only Section 16 has this grass root support in place.

As of 2020:  Now there are Friends Groups, not only in Section 16, but in Homestead Park, Fox Run Park and we are close to seeing one in the Pineries.
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2011 Goal #3:  Preserve more park land and open space in El Paso County:  Whenever and wherever this is possible, grow the amount of public land open for trail recreation.

As of 2020:  Falcon Regional Park was opened in 2016 adding parkland for our use.
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2011 Goal #4:  Install more horse trailer parking in El Paso County parks:  Lack of trailer parking spaces remains an issue for trail riders.

As of 2020:  New horse trailer lots were established in Black Forest Regional Park, Falcon Regional Park, and in the Pineries.
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2011 Goal #5:  Finish the Pineries Open Space development:  We want to get this operational ASAP with trails installed as funds become available.

As of 2020:  It took the full decade, but this latest park “crown jewel” just opened with nearly 10 miles of new trail for our users to enjoy!
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Another measure of success is making improvements that expand our reach and impact in the community.  Here are few of BFTA’s growth ventures over the past decade:

• Established a new platform for our outstanding website Black Forest Trails.org
• Established a well visited BFTA page in Facebook
• Installed trailside memorial benches honoring past BFTA greats – Hoover, Mosgrove, Kjeldsen
• Campaigned for the successful passage of Measure 1A which gave Black Forest’s parks $750,000
• Enrolled BFTA as a member in full support of the Black Forest Preservation Plan
• Helped establish a BF Inter-Agency Forum which assisted in BF Fire recovery efforts
• Worked with three housing developers to establish trail systems in new developments
• Established three new trails transiting private properties in Black Forest
• Lobbied successfully for the County to establish a Nature Center for Northern El Paso County

These efforts provide BFTA with a big footprint in the Black Forest Community and El Paso County.  All who have led or supported BFTA the past 10 years can be rightly proud of what we have accomplished.  So very grateful to have had this opportunity to lead our Association that steadfastly championed these causes for our membership.  In closing, I want to express a big THANK YOU to the Board Members I have worked with and the loyal membership who supported our efforts in my term as President.  Black Forest Trails Association has been in existence for nearly four decades and its collective accomplishments are well recognized and appreciated by its membership and fellow citizens of Black Forest.    

Hank would be proud of us!

Sincerely, Larry Fariss
President BFTA