What is a “TSA”? What is a “TSA”? TSA stands for “trail study area.” It is a process that emerged from the Visitor Master Plan (see below) that has become a de facto land use planning process for geographic regions of city open space. Two such TSAs have been completed—one for the Marshall Mesa area and the other for the Doudy Draw/Eldorado Mountain area. At present, OSMP is working on the West TSA, an area that includes Mountain Parks, Chautauqua, Mount Sanitas, and Shanahan Ridge. As suggested by its name, TSAs originally were intended to focus on trails. The first two processes centered on development of new trails and expanding uses of trails to include mountain biking. FOBOS formed, in part, to ensure that the conservation values of open space lands were being given sufficient attention in these processes. OSMP has made some useful adjustments to the TSA process. It consolidated the original 9 areas into 4 in 2007 (see map) and recognized the utility of placing these studies into a systemwide context. Staff completed a draft Grasslands Ecosystem Management Plan in December 2008 to provide guidance for actions in the system’s more than 24,000 acres of grasslands. Importantly, OSMP recognized that TSAs must begin with a comprehensive understanding of the resource and its desired future condition before considering recreational uses of the land. The West TSA is now proceeding under this framework. For information about specific TSAs |
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| City of Boulder’s Visitor Master Plan | |||||||||
Between 1999 and 2004, the city’s Department of Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) went through a lengthy public process to develop what it called a “Visitor Master Plan.” While the city had been acquiring open space lands since the 1960s and had acquired Chautauqua and the mountain park on Flagstaff around the turn of the 20th century, it had not developed plans related to human uses of these lands. As their popularity skyrocketed, the need for a comprehensive look at growing uses became evident. |
It was a challenging process. Longstanding uses already existed on the lands. It was clear that restrictions on such uses would be difficult, even if some uses were causing substantial harm to the land and the natural environment. Indeed, the process ended up focusing more on expanding uses than restricting them. One significant outcome was the designation of lands into three categories: passive recreation; natural areas; and habitat conservation areas. Essentially these designations followed the distance of the lands from the city so that HCAs are generally in more remote locations. Passive recreational uses are essentially unrestricted in the passive recreation areas while the number of trails and the types of uses are more limited in HCAs. For more information about the process and to see a copy of the final plan. Implementation of the VMP is occurring through what are called “trail study areas,” essentially four geographic regions of the system in which existing trails and uses are reviewed and consideration is given to new trails and new uses. |
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