S  O  L  V  E

Save Open Lands, Vistas and the Environment

P.O. Box 30, Silver Plume, CO 80476

SOLVE is a grassroots organization established in the face of uncontrolled development in the Front Range. SOLVE formed subsequent to the zoning of the Beaver Brook Watershed by the Clear Creek Board of County Commissioners in 1998.  The founding members of SOLVE saw the need for an advocacy group to inform and advise the County Commissioners and the public on wildlife and open space issues, and to resist pressures to development our pristine and fragile lands.

SOLVE addresses problems such as the lack of protection for wildlife habitat and corridors, depletion of water supply, deforestation and slope destabilization, burdens on infrastructure, traffic congestion, and financial burdens to taxpayers. However, SOLVE is about finding solutions to such problems and about planning for healthy communities and obtaining a balance of open space and appropriate development.

SOLVE was successful in formulating and getting voter approval for the creation of an Open Space Program and Commission in 1999.  We then applied for and received our 501(c)3 non-profit status. While the members of SOLVE remain committed to the process of preserving Beaver Brook Watershed, SOLVE has also been involved with preserving the James Peak Wilderness, and is opposed to the excessive widening and paving of Guanella Pass.  SOLVE’s geographic focus is Clear Creek County, but we stand by our sister organizations concerned with preserving their open lands and quality of life.

SOLVE is currently working with Trust for Public Land, Clear Creek County Open Space Commission, Mountain Area Land Trust, Clear Creek Land Conservancy and other organizations in the Elmgreen Open Space Coalition (EOSC) to preserve the Elmgreen family properties in Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties.  These include the 67-acre Meadow adjacent to I-70 at Floyd Hill—the window to Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties—and the 440-acre Homestead in Clear Creek Canyon.

For more information, please contact us.  SOLVE Board Members are: 

Etta Debenham, Co-chair, 303/674-0633, pedebenham@earthlink.net

Kay Harder, Co-chair, 303/670-1184, kayharder@aol.com

Sue Howell, Secretary, 303/567-4349, jasuhowell@aol.com

Gail Gilzsmer, Treasurer, 303/674-4389, cowpattylane1@juno.com

Frank Young, At Large, 303/569-3172, fyoung2688@aol.com

Marilyn Hogan, At Large, 303/670-2983, roho_maho@hotmail.com

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