Chris Castilian is stepping away after a four-year run as Great Outdoors Colorado’s executive director with his checklist completed. He developed a new strategic vision for Lottery-funded investment in Colorado communities. He helped create the new Fishers Peak State Park. He directed more than $270 million in GOCO grants. And his team spread six regional […]
Chris Castilian
Posted inColoradans, Education, News, Outdoors
Leadville’s gear-lending “library” is tearing down barriers to build a new generation of outdoor adventurers
LEADVILLE — Vanessa Saldivar was 5 when her father hiked her up the bunny slope at Mt. Hood Skibowl in Oregon. She didn’t have a fancy jacket. She used socks as mittens. Her dad gave her a nudge. And she was hooked. “All these barriers just broke down in that moment,” said the new executive […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Outdoors
GOCO’s transition to new grant distribution strategy creates avenue for Colorado coronavirus relief
Since voters amended Colorado’s constitution in 1992 to create Great Outdoors Colorado, the trust has directed lottery dollars into 5,300 projects in all 64 of the state’s counties. Last year GOCO toured the state and crafted a new way to distribute funds through a values-based approach that could stir legacy-type projects across entire regions. The […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Colorado now owns Fishers Peak, but funds to build the newest state park are in coronavirus limbo
The deal went down on a picnic table in Broomfield on April 1. “The quietest acquisition of a $25 million property no one ever heard of,” GOCO boss Chris Castilian said. With a notary public standing 6 feet away, a flurry of signatures transferred southern Colorado’s 30 square-mile Fishers Peak to the state of Colorado. […]