Hikers versus mountain bikers. Cross country skiers versus snowmobile enthusiasts. Preservationists versus recreationists.

The longtime conflicts among different users of open space — and between recreationists and those who want people restricted from some publicly owned lands — came out Saturday at a meeting organized to find "common ground" among the groups.

Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar was the keynote speaker at the first-ever "Our Common Ground" forum at the East Boulder Senior Center. 

He spoke of his family's 150-year farming tradition, his work in forming the lottery-funded Great Outdoors Colorado program, the importance of protecting streams and the prospect of preserving the 6,000 acres of Rocky Flats, a former nuclear weapons factory.

Few if any of the more than 100 people attending the forum disagreed with his message.

Many said they were avid open-space supporters who wanted to vent their concerns about how county open space is bought, managed and used.

The gathering was meant "to put the issues on the table," said Barbara Taylor, chairman of the committee that organized the event. A similar forum in Summit County last year, sponsored by a trails association, inspired this one, she said.

The issues were plentiful and from points of views ranging from dog-walkers to affordable-housing advocates who saw open space as an obstacle to providing economical places to live.

Suzanne Webel, Boulder County Horse Association president and Boulder Area Trails Coalition vice president, said arguments about trail use are so heated she practically feels the need to wear a bullet-proof vest when she expresses her viewpoints.

"I look forward to the day when popular trails are seen as successes, not threats," Webel said.

Gary Sprung, who represented the International Mountain Bicycling Association, said mountain bikers are often scorned because they're perceived as destroyers of trails and wildlife.

The real problem, he said, is "user conflict." He said he has a reverence for trails — and fun.

County Commissioner Ron Stewart, who also heads the county's open space program, pointed to specific open space management plans as the key to providing the best guidance for users and protection for the land. 

But sometimes those management plans can take years to complete, and recreationists often disagree with the science used to restrict human use of lands.

"We have an obligation to be good stewards," Stewart said.

The forum didn't provide any solutions, but it was meant to open discussion and invite others to organize similar events as a way to find consensus about the future of Boulder County open space.

To provide additional comment and receive information about future events, contact Taylor at (303) 444-9508.