Boulder, Colorado is a beautiful little town located just northwest of Denver in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It is well known for being home to the University of Colorado, Mork and Mindy’s hometown and the town that was ranked #1 on the list of “America’s Top 25 Towns to Live Well” in Forbes Magazine. Many people travel to Boulder to explore the amazing greenbelts, city trails and open space. However, how would you feel if you were required to pay just to explore the outdoors? What about people flying in from Germany or New Zealand who want to take their family on a vacation to Boulder? They might have to pay a $10 fee to get into our country (due to the Travel Promotion Act), and then pay an additional fee to hike in the foothills of Boulder.

This is what Boulder is thinking of doing. For those who aren’t Boulder residents, a trail pass will be required if you want to use their trails and open space. As you can imagine this isn’t going to be favored highly among those who like to utilize the trails in Boulder already. A guest commenter on the ABC Channel 7 News website contested, “How selfish can ya get. Just another reason I won't go there now. There are much better maintained areas in Jefferson and Park county that clearly rely on Denver visitors. Boulder needs a reality check, in this economy people aren't going to pay for it.”

Why would Boulder do this? Imagine you had a beautiful backyard and sold jewelry from your home. How would you feel if people were constantly coming to eat, play and socialize in your backyard but never stopped in your home to purchase any of your goods? How would you pay to keep your property nice if people were constantly causing damage? According to Steve Mertz, spokesman for the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, “People who live in Denver and pay taxes in Denver are not necessarily paying any taxes to Boulder. So the upkeep of these lands is paid for by people who live and shop in Boulder." This is something to think about for everyone using open space in Boulder. Ask yourself this, how sustainable is it to use a lands natural resources but not help the town?

This is a tough subject seeing as how so many people could be affected by this proposal. On one hand natural open space should be free right? On the other hand why should people be able to use something that they aren’t helping pay for? Is there a happy medium where everyone could end up happy? Do you live in Boulder? How do you feel about this proposal? Do you live in Denver and utilize Boulder open space? Will you still hike on Boulder trails if you have to pay to use them?