Briefs | Longmont-Boulder trail section opens

0

Longmont-Boulder trail section opens

The Boulder County transportation and parks and open space departments, along with the City of Longmont, are opening the north segment of the Longmont-to-Boulder Regional Trail today, July 14.

The trail segment is nearly three miles long and stretches from the Lefthand Valley Grange Trailhead on North 83rd Street to the North 95th Street bridge at Lefthand Creek in Longmont. A map of the trail segment is available at bit.ly/boulderlong.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony with officials from Boulder County and Longmont will be held at 4:30 p.m. at the Lefthand Valley Grange Trailhead near 83rd Street and Niwot Road.

The joint project was funded by Longmont, a federal transportation grant awarded to Boulder County in 2007, and the countywide transportation sales tax approved by voters in 2001.

The project comprises the northernmost section of the planned 12-mile Longmont-to-Boulder Regional Trail that begins on the City of Boulder’s Cottonwood Trail and terminates at the Lefthand Greenway in Longmont.

Missing links at Jay Road and Lookout Road are in the planning phases, as is a new connection to the Boulder Reservoir underneath the Diagonal Highway.

City parks department lands award

The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) recently selected the City of Boulder’s Parks and Recreation Department to receive the 2011 Barb King Environmental Stewardship Award.

The award recognizes parks and recreation agencies that have achieved excellence in environmental stewardship and exceptional service in the field, furthering the aims and values of parks and recreation.

NRPA will present the award publicly at a special reception at the association’s 2011 Congress & Exposition in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 2.

Forestry Sort Yard shifts

Boulder County’s Forest Health Initiative has started its seasonal transfer of the county’s Community Forestry Sort Yard program from Nederland to Allenspark.

Because the county only has the resources and staff to operate one site at a time, the two sites operate on alternate schedules each season.

The Nederland area sort yard, located at 286 Ridge Rd., closed for the summer on July 9.

The Boulder County Commissioners are reviewing proposals for reopening the Nederland area sort yard on a limited basis this year to accept additional slash and logs from county residents. More information on potential dates and hours for these extra collections will be released later this summer.

The Allenspark/Meeker Park sort yard, located on the Peak-to-Peak Highway just north of the Boulder- Larimer county line, will open for log and slash disposal at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 9 and remain open through Oct. 15. The Allenspark site will not accept logs infested by mountain pine beetles until the majority of beetle flight has ended in mid-September.

For information on the types and preferred lengths of material accepted at the sort yard, visit www.BoulderCounty. org/ForestHealth.

For more information about bark beetle management tips, upcoming trainings, and sort yard operations, contact Ryan Ludlow, Boulder County’s outreach forester, at 720-564-2641 or pinebeetle@bouldercounty.org.

Ultimate disc tourney benefits YSI

The City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department’s Youth Services Initiative program (YSI) has been selected as the beneficiary of the July 16-17 Grass Roots Ultimate Benefit (GRUB) fundraising tournament.

The ultimate disc tournament will be held at Pleasant View Fields, at 3805 47th St. in Boulder.

Proceeds from the event will support YSI programs by providing funding for sports equipment, activity fees, summer camp programming and scholarships for classes within Boulder’s recreation centers.

More than 650 athletes are expected to participate in the 20th annual GRUB tournament.

Youth Services Initiative provides youth from low-income housing the opportunities and resources necessary to make positive recreational, educational and lifestyle choices.

For more information about the tournament, call Paul Bousquet at 303- 413-7239.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com