***UPDATE – GOCO RE-AUTHORIZED THROUGH 2049!***
In a win for Colorado’s outdoor recreation, trails, parks, and open spaces, Colorado Lottery funds have been officially reauthorized to support GOCO! Governor Hickenlooper recently signed Senate Bill 18-066 into law, ensuring lottery funds will support outdoor recreation and wildlife habitat through the year 2049.
Original Story:
If you live here on the Western Slope, then you likely have heard of the Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) program, which preserves and enhances our parks, trails, rivers, wildlife, and open spaces of Colorado. GOCO does its work by investing a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds into projects across the state.
Since the program’s inception in 1994 through 2016, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) has provided over $7.14 million dollars to recreation, trail, and access project funding in Delta County. The Paonia River Park alone has received over $75,000 in GOCO funding during that time. To top it off, these totals don’t include the recently announced $1.7 million GOCO Inspire funding to The Nature Connection which will serve the communities of Delta County and Olathe. Needless to say, the Western Slope Conservation Center is just one of a wide array of Western Slope organizations and municipalities which understand the positive impact of the GOCO program for Delta County and the Western Slope.
Even the best ideas, however, need community support for them to continue. The CO state legislature is currently hearing a bill to reauthorize GOCO, and the Western Slope Conservation Center has been working with diverse stakeholders in the region to show collective support for GOCO reauthorization.
This past December, we hosted a GOCO Delta County Round Table which included CO State Senator Kerry Donovan and the Delta County Board of County Commissioners. During the round table event, each stakeholder spoke about how GOCO has positively impacted their organizations, municipalities, and the community at large.
Thanks to this round table and outreach from WSCC and others, Delta County voices are being heard at the state level. Check out some of the LTEs and op-eds below.
If you would like to show your support for the GOCO program, please sign up as a supporter at the Keep it CO coalition website at www.keepitco.org.
Op-eds and LTEs:
http://www.deltacountyindependent.com/goco-needs-our-support-cms-10084