Posted: 02/09/2019 07:04:15 PM MST

On Jan. 15, the city of Boulder hosted a public meeting to discuss proposed changes at Wonderland Lake via the North Boulder Trail Study Area (NBTSA). As I squeezed into the recreation center room, there was palpable anger from the 100-plus neighbors in attendance; they were concerned that the lake's serenity and nature would be destroyed by the city's proposal to include a fishing pier, boardwalk and shade structure at Wonderland Lake.

I can understand how residents, many of whom are my friends and neighbors, might fear the proposal if they did not know the history of how and why the city came to suggest these designs. My hope, however, is that my description below will provide greater understanding of why the pier, boardwalk and shade structure were recommended, and why I believe the principles underlying those structures should still be implemented, either at Wonderland Lake or elsewhere in Boulder.

In 2015, the city spent several months reaching out to diverse community members for the NBTSA through workshops and conversations at the Wonderland Lake trailhead, neighborhood coffee shops, grocery stores, parks and online. They engaged hundreds of Wonderland neighbors from low-income and high-income backgrounds, English speakers and Spanish speakers, and young and old. My organization, Growing Up Boulder, which seeks to include young people's voices in local decisions that affect them, partnered with the city's Open Space and Mountain Parks Department to include almost 100 children and youth, ages 3-18, in the NBTSA outreach. Here is what we heard.

"People are always telling us to get out and enjoy nature, but then we can't do anything with it but walk," a 9-year-old boy informed us at the NBTSA family participation day in July 2015. Instead, he suggested the city add "a boardwalk with viewing hole, so I can watch the fish and ducks without scaring them." Preschool children made similar recommendations during their trip to Wonderland Lake. During the interpretive walk to Wonderland Lake, facilitators also noticed that the trail was not wide enough to accommodate children's frequent stops for snacks, water and observations. The group decided that a wider path and pullouts with shade might help young children make the journey to the lake.

Children ages 3-11 wanted access to nature so that they could view wildlife, play with sand, touch the water, get their feet wet, peer into the shallows for tadpoles, and generally experience Rachel Carson's sense of wonder that is critical in developing care for, knowledge about, and long-term interest in nature.

Meanwhile, Junior Rangers, teenagers who work for OSMP during the summer, requested improved access to the beach and water at Wonderland Lake. Because the location of trails was not clear, and people walked in areas where they were not supposed to, the teens felt that boardwalks could help define access and protect sensitive wildlife.

In summary, Boulder's young people requested close-up, tactile and respectful interactions with nature. This is what I believe the OSMP designs represented. The designs were not meant to turn Wonderland Lake into Coney Island, but instead to offer opportunities that would simultaneously protect and allow for direct experiences with nature. Not only did children share what they wished for Wonderland Lake, but they shared how impactful this civic engagement process itself was to them. One Junior Ranger summarized the experience by saying, "We felt honored that they came to us and gave us a chance to participate in the decision-making process at such a young age. It was nice to have a day to think and reflect on our times in OSMP ... while you knew you were contributing to something real." This engagement, and the city's responsiveness to it, have since been internationally recognized as an example of best practice in the area-youth participatory planning.

In moving forward, I request that City Council, city staff and the community honor the input that these young people, and so many others, contributed in 2015. Please do not discard suggestions from the 2015 outreach process in favor of public outcry from 2019; instead, let's sit down side-by-side, new voices and old, and young and old, to talk and listen to each other about how to make our natural spaces engaging for all ages, backgrounds and abilities. Boulder, let us listen our young people's voices and show that we are the international example of inclusive youth engagement that others believe us to be.