President’s Corner - Friends Needed for Our Parks!

​We in Black Forest are blessed with an assortment of county parks that provide ample opportunity to get out and explore the great outdoors!  Whether you hike, jog, bike, ride horses or play on the swings, we all benefit.  A sampling of our local parks include:

• Black Forest Regional Park
• Section 16
• Fox run Regional Park
• Homestead Park
• Falcon Park
• Palmer Divide Trailhead
• And the soon to be Pineries Open Space

These gems are there for the taking and the county does all they can to render them safe, fun and useful.  Despite their best efforts our county is budget limited and relies on citizen groups to help bridge the gap.  These groups are called Friends Groups.

​A Friends Group is an organized group of park users with an interest in assisting El Paso County Parks in protecting, enhancing, maintaining and restoring a specific park, trail, open space or recreation facility. Friends are volunteers that actively seek ways to preserve and improve their park. Friends participate in park conservation, outreach and education with the surrounding community.

The Friends Groups have two main goals:
1.  To increase community involvement in our parks,
2.  To provide time, talent and fundraising to support the identified Friend’s Group projects.
3.  It is the goal of El Paso County Parks to establish one friends group in each park, to maintain a long-term partnership with each group, and to work together to maximize efforts in the beautification and stewardship of our beautiful County parks, trails, open spaces and recreation facilities.

Unfortunately, to date in Black Forest, only Section 16 has an established Friends Group.  Your own Black Forest Trails Association has served in this capacity for the last 10 years.  This service has led to well-maintained trails, benches for resting, a bathroom facility, and litter free grounds.  El Paso County Parks strongly desires a Friends Group for every park in Black Forest.  Recently that has happened for Fox Run Regional Park!  Under the leadership of Marlene Brown, a group of citizens have established FROST to help take care of the trees and trails that course throughout this wonderful bit of open space.  They have met several times to organize themselves and recently held a volunteer work day to enhance the park grounds.  They are setting an example for us all!

If you, or an organization you are part of, want to establish a Friends Group for your favorite park in Black Forest, please reach out to BFTA and we will help you establish a strong organization.  We can help with website access, social media platforms support and general guidance.  Make a difference!  

Sincerely, Larry Fariss 
President BFTA