Quarry Owner Donates Land to Jefferson County
Published Apr 16, 2005
More than 700 acres of land on North Table Mountain will become part of Jefferson County Open Space thanks to Lafarge North America.
These days, the grass is greener on both sides of North Table Mountain, and thanks to the stewardship of Lafarge North America, it should stay that way for years to come.
In 2002, Lafarge donated 463 acres on North Table Mountain to Jefferson County Open Space. The contribution of pristine open lands came as part of a complex quarry boundary adjustment proposal that Lafarge made to Jefferson County and the city of Golden.
All told, Lafarge will donate 745 acres to Jefferson County Open Space in exchange for the right to quarry an additional 60 acres adjacent to an existing quarry. When the quarry is exhausted and reclaimed, Lafarge will return that 60 acres and donate the 222 acres in the original quarry to Jefferson County Open Space.
Lafarge and previous quarry owners had long sought to expand an existing quarry onto 60 acres along the quarry’s southern boundary. The 60 acres extend the life of the aggregate quarry by some 20 years and will ultimately enhance reclamation of the entire site, says M.L. Tucker, regional manager of public and governmental affairs for Lafarge.
Lafarge is an aggregate, ready-mix concrete and paving company that employs approximately 2,000 in Colorado and more than 150 in Jefferson County.
Tucker was a part of the team from Lafarge that took the boundary adjustment proposal to the community. She explains that it took careful communication of the company’s plan and thoughtful listening to community concerns to transform the proposal into reality.
“The company really listened to the community and responded to the community, and we were able to come up with a win-win situation,” Tucker says.
There is ample evidence that Lafarge has worked to be a good environmental steward and a quality community member, Tucker says.
For one, the company committed to a mining plan that has the least amount of visual impact to the mountain backdrop. It employs concurrent reclamation procedures, speeding reclamation and minimizing the number of acres being mined at any one time.
And Lafarge gives back to its community through an annual program that provides a $30,000 material grant for local community projects.
“Our people work and live in these same communities,” Tucker says. “[The company is], as a business, a member of the community. We feel a commitment to that community to make it a better place than it was before we became involved.”
Story by Sue Lenthe
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