Park’s angel wingless but true
Published: March 2, 2006
From a remote spot high in the foothills of Gilpin County, Bruce Clinton keeps careful watch over Golden Gate Canyon State Park.
When the Chicago businessman retreats to his mountain home, he likes to watch people come and go on the park’s main road, which he can see from his living room.
For 18 years, the media-shy Clinton has served as an almost invisible steward of Golden Gate. He’s been known to lend park rangers his road-grading equipment, help fix fences and donate cash.
Dan Weber, Golden Gate’s manager, said Clinton has donated about $100,000 to the park.
Once a year, or so, Clinton visits in person, stopping, usually unannounced, at the visitors’ center, just to see if Weber and his small staff need any help.
“He is an uncommon man,” Weber said.
Each year about 500,000 people visit the park, which covers 15,000 acres in the mountains above the metro area. Day trippers come for the stunning views of the Continental Divide, aspens in the fall and the lovingly maintained hiking trails.
Others come to stay a while. In 2004, the park won a spot in the top 10 of Americans’ favorite camping areas, compiled by MSN.com, Weber said.
Clinton and his family’s land is bordered on three sides by Golden Gate. They love the park for the same reason they love their own property: for the views, the quiet, the ice-covered ponds in winter and the stunning mountain ranges.
In the years since 1988, when Clinton first stopped by, he said he’s been deeply impressed with the work done to keep thousands of acres of land safe and well-preserved, even with an onslaught of half a million visitors a year.
“It is an enormous load,” Clinton said. “They are the most conscientious, unflashy, dedicated group of people I’ve ever seen. Every time I check back in, it seems as if they’re doing a good job. When they do something, they do it in a sensitive way.”
On a visit two years ago, Clinton heard that the park needed to replace its 30-year old wildland fire truck, a 1975 Dodge. Clinton told Weber he would donate up to $30,000, but the state would have to match it two-for-one.
It took several months, but Weber’s bosses found $46,000 for the project, so Clinton donated $23,000.
Last fall, the truck arrived without some of the specialized equipment it needed.
Clinton again came forward, offering to match whatever the state could muster from its own cash-strapped budget.
This month, the Colorado State Park Board approved the latest Clinton donation.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: