March 18, 2025
Tom Schweich and Ann Norton, Stewards of Golden Open Space
Golden Open Space
Featured Brewery: Mad Macks Brewing
Many are familiar with Jefferson County Open Space and its popular parks around Golden, like North and South Table Mountain, Mount Galbraith, and Apex Park. The city-owned open space in Golden is much smaller and often overlooked, spanning just 375 acres across 15 parcels.
Join Ann Norton and Tom Schweich from Stewards of Golden Open Space as they guide us through these lesser-known city-owned spaces, sharing their locations, unique features, and the natural beauty they preserve. They’ll also dive into the city’s current project to prepare an Open Space Master Plan, which will not only define these areas as true “Open Space” (with a capital O and S) but will also set the policies for preservation, maintenance, and restoration that will shape Golden’s natural landscape for years to come.
Speaker Bio:
Tom Schweich
Despite a career in Information Technology, Tom Schweich has 40 years of experience with plant specimen collection, plant identification, and preservation and curation of plant specimens in California and Colorado, working in the eastern Mojave Desert, the eastern Sierra Nevada at Mono Lake, California, and Golden, Colorado on the east slope of the Rocky Mountains. He is also interested in the history of Colorado botany, i.e., the early expeditions and their scientists, the plants found and the names they were given, and how recent advances in genetics have changed our view of the evolution of plants and their names. The Golden open space parcel, Schweich Hill, is named after him to honor his work there. He is an active member of Stewards of Golden Open Space, a volunteer with Golden’s Weedbusters, and with Jefferson County Open Space.
Speaker Bio:
Ann Norton
Returning to her home state in 2008, Ann has practiced law in a variety of states and federal jurisdictions, most recently with the Norton Law Firm. Her practice and expertise included business and non-profit corporations, land use, community development, real estate and related areas. She has served as a Housing Court Judge, mediator, adjunct professor of law and natural resources issues, and the President of a national public interest firm. She is a co-founder and President of Stewards of Golden Open Space, and serves on the board of Dinosaur Ridge, Golden United and Stonebridge HOA. An avid hiker, biker, canoeist, Nordic and back country skier, she is continuously amazed by the natural world which surrounds us in Golden and Colorado and strives to contribute to efforts to ensure its ongoing sustainability.
How This Works
The Buffalo Rose will open at 6:00 p.m. Food and drink service will begin at 6:00 p.m. and the program will begin around 6:30 p.m. Following the presentation, we’ll take a brief intermission for Q + A. We’ll wrap up around 7:45 p.m., but people interested in staying a bit longer to socialize will be able to do so. There is no cover charge and no purchase is necessary.
Please check out podcasts of Past Talks.