Broomfield Open Space Action Network (BOSAN)

Connecting People Back to Nature and Nurturing the Health of Our Open Spaces

What is BOSAN?

Broomfield Open Space Action Network (BOSAN) was born out of conversations between Jessica Goldstrohm (a Broomfield resident and board member of Broomfield Open Space Foundation) and Mike Artmann (Broomfield resident of 20 years) over coffee about milkweed patches Mike had mapped throughout Broomfield’s open spaces and what the next steps should be. Using the mapped milkweed patches as a starting point, habitat enrichment
for pollinators seemed like a great next step, which would also include events to invite community members into the open spaces and become key players in the health of those spaces.

From there, Jessica, Mike, the City and County of Broomfield Open Space and Trails Department, Broomfield Open Space Foundation, and Urban Prairies Project of the Butterfly Pavilion formed the Broomfield Open Space Action Network and collaborated to create a series of events that took place in the summer and fall of 2023.

The purpose of the series was to create opportunities for community members to engage with the health of the open space in positive ways. The series included bio blitzes, invasive weed removal, native seed harvesting, and native seed planting. Ages of participants ranged from toddlers to teens to middle aged to retirees all joining forces to enrich and improve the Broomfield Commons Open Space.