Young People's Vision for the North Boulder Trail Study Area (NBTSA) and Open Space and Mountain Parks

Final Report North TSA

Kids' Ideas incorporated

Academic article

Boulder Journey School: Nature through the Lens of a Bug

Approximately 15 students from Boulder Journey School have been exploring insects this year.  GUB's partnership brought them to Coot Lake in partnership with Parks and Recreation and then to Wonderland Lake for further insect investigation.

In order to prepare for their trip to Coot Lake, students researched insect anatomy and designed bug costumes.  Their costumes were designed as an expression of empathy toward the insects, and to minimize the extent that large human visitors might frighten the bugs.  Students also thought about the impacts of recreation on bugs, asking questions such as how might human visitation affect insect habitat?  They also made field journals to document their observations.  Boulder Journey School students also explored insects at Wonderland Lake.  They learned about habitat requirements, life cycles, and body parts of insects.  Students thoughts for the open space include:

• Students liked seeing dragonflies and moth cocoons
• They want to protect the bugs
• They’d like to get to play with the bugs more, or live with them
• They’d like to swim, fish and get their hands and feet wet in the lake
• They’d like to be able to touch the plants more
• Teachers recommended having more pictures on the signs so they’re easier to understand for younger kids
• We also observed the need for more pullouts along the trail and by the water to accommodate tour/school groups, some with shade.

At the end of their year, Boulder Journey School students developed a "Bug Care Book" as a culminating project.  It describes where to find them and how to gently handle them.

Boulder Journey School's Bug Care Book

OSMP’s Junior Ranger Visions and Recommendations

Five Junior Ranger crews (approximately 60 young people) have contributed their vision for ideal experiences in Boulder’s open space and developed recommendations for trail access and management. Some of the ideal experiences include:

• Hikes that include water, streams and lakes
• Shaded trails
• Hammocking
• Biking
• Hiking in remote areas
• Diverse nature experienced through all the seasons
• Quiet picnicking and hiking areas

Junior Ranger Recommendations include:

• Well-placed interpretive materials to foster appreciation and knowledge of nature
• Effective and simple signage with positive messaging because we want to encourage positive behaviors and too many signs are ineffective
• Take-along trail maps with trail distance, difficulty and natural history features because it is hard to hold all this information in your head from the trailhead and we like to learn about nature along the way
• An app that includes trail distance, difficulty, and natural history features for the same reasons as above, but can carry it on our phone
• Natural trail maintenance to preserve and maintain ecological processes
• New trails away from development to decrease trail crowding and improve experiences of nature
• More benches for resting, slightly off trail for a more pleasant experience

Family Day, July 11, 2015
Growing Up Boulder, in partnership with Open Space and Mountain Parks and the Open Space Board of Trustees held a family day, with an interpretive station about special features of the North TSA, and stations for participation of children and families.  Below are just a few of the suggestions children had for making the North TSA better.  These include trees for shelter and shade, rocks for climbing, better access around the lake and into the water (with a boardwalk that can protect the wildlife but allow viewing), protecting and increasing wildlife, and more play spaces for children and adults.  In the words of one 9 year old at the event:  "People are always telling us to get out and enjoy nature, but then we can't do anything with it but walk."  Children want to touch grasses and get wet.  They want to be free to look for bugs and explore.  They expressed a desire for a balance of use and protection.

Drawing by Deryn Wagner

"People are always telling us to get out and enjoy nature, but then we can't do anything with it but walk."
- 9 year old at Family Day