Jackie Miller is the Executive Director of Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), and Carlos Fernández is the Colorado State Director for The Nature Conservancy. Both are highly respected leaders in Colorado’s conservation community, and they’ve played pivotal roles in shaping the state’s approach to protecting land, water, wildlife, and outdoor access. While Carlos has joined me on the podcast several times before, this is Jackie’s first appearance, and I was honored to have them both on to discuss one of the most significant conservation developments in recent memory.
Just a few weeks ago, the State of Colorado announced the launch of its Outdoors Strategy—a comprehensive, collaborative roadmap designed to align the state’s conservation, outdoor recreation, and climate resilience efforts for decades to come. Developed through years of planning, dialogue, and consensus-building across hundreds of organizations and communities, the Strategy addresses some of the most pressing challenges facing Colorado’s landscapes and communities. It’s not just a plan—it’s a shared vision backed by actionable goals, clear metrics, and powerful tools for implementation at the local and statewide levels.
In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss the origin of Colorado’s Outdoors Strategy, the urgency behind its creation, and the unique collaborative process that brought it to life. Jackie shares how GOCO’s long-standing community partnerships and flexible funding model positioned the organization to lead at a statewide scale, while Carlos explains how the Strategy dovetails with The Nature Conservancy’s science-based goals and priorities. We also explore the Strategy’s “North Star” goals, the innovative Resource Hub that supports on-the-ground action, and the importance of regional implementation and tribal engagement. It’s a timely, inspiring look at how Colorado is setting a national standard for coordinated, community-driven conservation.
Photos courtesy of TNC and GOCO
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EPISODE PARTNER:
This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Colorado chapter of The Nature Conservancy and TNC chapters throughout the Western United States. Guided by science and grounded by decades of collaborative partnerships, The Nature Conservancy has a long-standing legacy of achieving lasting results to create a world where nature and people thrive.
During the last week of every month throughout 2025, Mountain & Prairie will be delving into conversations with a wide range of The Nature Conservancy’s leaders, partners, collaborators, and stakeholders, highlighting the myriad of conservation challenges, opportunities, and solutions here in the American West and beyond. You can access all of the episodes here.
To learn more about The Nature Conservancy’s impactful work in the West and around the world, visit www.nature.org
RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 3:03 – Intros, Carlos then Jackie
- 5:09 – Explaining Great Outdoors Colorado
- 8:51 – How Jackie got to GOCO
- 11:37 – Carlos on GOCO
- 15:29 – Challenges and opportunities that led to Colorado’s Outdoors Strategy
- 19:04 – Opportunities that the Strategy will address
- 21:33 – Jackie’s executive summary
- 27:01 – How the Strategy aligns with TNC’s other goals
- 29:59 – North stars and measuring success
- 33:22 – The TNC tools Carlos is excited about
- 36:34 – Creating urgency to execute a plan
- 40:14 – Face-to-face
- 42:51 – Carlos’s thoughts on execution
- 45:49 – How the plan affects the layperson
- 47:25 – What did we miss? First Jackie
- 51:29 – Then Carlos
- 53:31 – Book recs
- 57:42 – Wrap up words of wisdom
Information Referenced:
- Jackie Miller
- Carlos Fernandez
- Colorado’s Outdoors Strategy
- Colorado’s Outdoors Strategy Video
- Book recs: Prodigal Summer, Abundance, A Walk in the Park, American Wolf
- Quote that Carlos shared in the wrap-up.
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