Outdoor-recreation advocates press Colfax County to formalize 'Wild Divide' push

Jared Chatterly told the Colfax County Board of Commissioners that the county is well positioned to expand outdoor recreation as an economic driver and should commit staff resources to coordinate and pursue grants for trails, marketing and facilities.

"First and foremost, I'd like to thank the commission for the initiative of the Wild Divide campaign," Chatterly said, noting recent changes at Filmont and activity at the Whittington Center, Verjo and nearby state parks. He urged the county to create an asset inventory and a staff point of contact to help local nonprofits access grant programs, including the Outdoor Equity grant.

Commissioners broadly endorsed the idea. "I can't agree more with what all you said," Commissioner Karn told Chatterly, adding that recreation is an important future industry for the county. Several commissioners asked Chatterly to submit a proposal outlining the goals and resources he could bring to a county-led effort.

Staff presented the Wild Divide biannual report for Nov. 1–May 31. The presentation said a New Mexico True co-op grant funded video production and magazine coverage; social media reach for the period totaled roughly 600,000 impressions and site sessions for wilddivide.com numbered about 2,600. Staff said approximately half the website clicks were attributable to paid meta ads and that a print visitors guide is a possible next step.

Commission discussion focused on how the county might support partner organizations — Filmont, the Whittington Center, Sugar Canyon State Park and others — to access grant funds and to ensure benefits spread across the county. Commissioners suggested the county consider an office of outdoor recreation or a designated staff role as a single point of contact for state agencies and grant applications.

Next steps: Chatterly agreed to provide a written proposal of objectives and expected contributions; commissioners asked staff to evaluate options for staffing and funding and to return with recommendations at a future meeting.