Jefferson County Open Space (JCOS) is gearing up for its next five-year “Greenprint,” a strategic plan for how it acquires, manages, and develops the more than 57,000 acres it already owns. That land comes courtesy of a 0.5% sales tax approved by voters in 1972 and reaffirmed multiple times since. In total, JCOS has dropped $370 million buying up land over the decades, and it’s nowhere near done. Now, with the new Greenprint, it’s looking to expand conservation efforts, reshape recreation access, and target wildfire mitigation as justification for scooping up more land.
According to the article, public feedback is part of the planning process, with a final draft due this fall. But while staffers tout “community-driven” goals, the real driver seems to be securing even more government control over private land under the soothing banner of open space. Because who doesn’t love trails, views, and the smell of government ambition in the morning?
The Bullet Point Brief
- $370 Million and Counting: Since 1972, JCOS has dropped nearly four hundred million dollars buying land. That’s not conservation, it’s conquest with a PR team.
- When the Gov Buys, You Pay Twice: They use your tax dollars to outbid private developers, driving up housing prices and limiting supply. Then they call it sustainability.
- Land for “Wildfire Mitigation” Sounds Great… Until You Remember It’s Also Code for Land Lockdown: Is it about safety, or is it about giving government a new excuse to expand its holdings?
- Public Input Theater: They say it’s “community-driven,” but let’s be honest, those already in the neighborhood love the idea of locking down land so no one else moves in.
- Taxpayer Funded NIMBYism: You get your dream view, courtesy of open space, then make sure no one else can build near it. It’s subsidized selfishness dressed in Patagonia.
My Bottom Line
I’ll be honest – I’m torn. On the one hand, open space policies and taxes are wildly popular with voters – they pass nearly every time. On the other hand, I love free markets and private property. This feels like a velvet-gloved land grab. The government isn’t just preserving land; it’s actively buying up resources, removing land from the housing pool, and making it harder for families to afford a home.
Worse yet, this kind of policy rewards those who already bought in. You got your front porch mountain view, now you want the government to buy up everything around you so no one can “hig” your sightlines. That’s not stewardship. That’s elitism.
So yeah, maybe my spidey sense isn’t off. Maybe it’s tingling for good reason. But I would love to hear what you think about open space – drop your comments in the box below.
