As Colorado’s outdoor recreation economy continues to grow, so does the need for conservation of the natural resources that provide these opportunities. To drive a coordinated effort toward balancing recreation with environmental stewardship, the state released the Colorado Outdoor Strategy last week.

“To plan for recreation and conservation as separate pursuits would be like planting two halves of a tree on opposite sides of the forest — they will grow at the same time, but they will never form the same canopy,”  said Patt Dorsey, the National Wild Turkey Federation’s director of conservation operations for the west, in a press release. “The health of the land requires harmony, not division. The Colorado Outdoor Strategy offers a way to manage the needs of wildlife and the wanderings of people in concert.”

Colorado Parks and Wildlife led the planning effort, which started in January 2023. It coordinated directly with Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office and the Governor’s Office on the endeavor. 

The 136-page outdoor strategy sets a roadmap toward achieving three goals over the next 10 years: climate resilient conservation and restoration, exceptional and sustainable outdoor recreation and coordinated planning and funding. 

Accompanying the strategy is an online resource hub with the data, tools and resources necessary to support the goals and actions.

How the strategy defines Colorado’s pressures on the environment 

Colorado’s Outdoor Strategy pulls together data and information to define the opportunities and challenges of achieving these goals.

Colorado is home to just under 6 million people — a number which is expected to climb to almost 7.5 million by 2050, according to the Colorado Demography Office. The office estimates that nearly 72% of residents participate in an outdoor activity at least once a week; 96% at least once annually. 

In 2022, around 90 million visitors explored the state — 60% of whom participated in some outdoor activity, according to the state tourism office. 

Outdoor recreation generated $65.8 billion in economic output in 2023, $36.5 billion in gross domestic product (8.5% of the state’s entire GDP) and provided around 404,000 jobs, according to Parks and Wildlife. 

Increased pressure from humans and development is just one threat to the state’s nearly 29 million acres of public land, which accounts for 44% of the state’s land mass. 

Climate change, wildfires and drought stack on additional pressures. 

Over the last four decades, Colorado’s annual average temperature has increased by around 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit. In the next 30 years, this is expected to warm by between 2.5 to 5.5 degrees compared to a 1971-2000 baseline, according to data from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. 

As temperatures rise, streamflow declines. 

“In the Upper Colorado River Basin, streamflow is decreasing by about 5% per degree Fahrenheit as a consequence of atmospheric warming, causing a 20% reduction over the past century,” according to the strategy, citing information from the U S Geological Survey.

The result of these pressures is seen in Colorado’s wildlife, forests and ecosystems. 

The Colorado State Forest Service estimates that around 10% of Colorado’s 24 million acres of forest require “urgent attention to address forest health, wildfire risk, and threats to water supplies,” the strategy states. 

Of the 960 wildlife species in Colorado, 150 are classified as species with significant conservation needs by Parks and Wildlife. 

What the strategy is and is not 

In the document, the state brands the strategy as not just “another plan.”

In crafting the strategy, the partners reviewed over 530 Colorado federal, state, county and private sector plans and strategies related to conservation, outdoor recreation and climate resilience. 

The vast majority (345) were county-level plans. Each of Colorado’s 64 counties has a plan relating to at least one of those topics, with some having as many as 17. 

“Colorado’s Outdoors Strategy seeks to sustain and build upon the coordination and funding that have already been invested in the outdoors, while setting out new approaches for stronger coordination and collaboration,” according to the document. 

The strategy is also not meant to be prescriptive, according to the document. 

“It advances coordination, funding and tools while recognizing and respecting the management authority, property rights and priorities of each of its partners and stakeholders,” it states. 

To do so, it establishes nine objectives and 33 actions to meet the three overarching goals. 

The strategy also pulls specific objectives from some of the state’s other plans. For example, under conservation, it borrows a goal of doubling the acreage of conserved private lands by 2033, adding 3.3 million acres over the 2023 baseline from Keep It Colorado’s 10-Year Roadmap for the Future of Private Land Conservation.

The first goal around conservation and restoration sets ways to increase biodiversity and climate resiliency as well as restore land and habitat. 

The second goal surrounding recreation offers ways to increase accessibility, availability and inclusivity in the outdoors, while increasing management capacity and stewardship opportunities. 

The third goal gets at pulling together the necessary resources to meet these conservation and recreation goals — specifically tackling challenges around funding this work. 

“Colorado faces an estimated funding shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars for conservation, outdoor recreation and climate resilience,” according to the plan. “When combined with the wide range of water, forest and transportation-related needs that intersect with these priorities, total unfunded needs likely reach into the billions of dollars.” 

To address this shortfall, the strategy plans for the creation of a needs assessment between the effort’s coordinating partners and a long-term, sustainable funding framework, in addition to other opportunities to find funding.