Friends of the Elk Meadow off-leash area announced late Tuesday they have canceled Thursday’s rally in light of a new partnership forged with Jeffco Open Space that will keep a portion of the popular Evergreen dog park open for several years to come.

“Because of these developments and in the spirit of collaboration, we are canceling the protest/rally scheduled for 5 p.m. this Thursday,” Betsy Rich wrote on the Friends of Elk Meadow Park DOLA Facebook page. “Yes, they are closing most of the park, but a week ago we were looking at a full, permanent closure, and that is now not going to happen thanks to all of you.

“Let’s tone down our rhetoric and give this new relationship a chance to work.”

The partnership was struck late Monday after Rich, Judi Quackenboss and Doug Turner met with Open Space Executive Director Tom Hoby. Although terms of the partnership are still in the works, Rich announced an agreement was reached to keep the two fenced areas open to the public.

That includes the original bark park, which was created by Quackenboss and Open Space in 2001 in honor of her son, John Michael, who died in a plane crash the year before. The two areas combined equal about seven acres, which pales in comparison to Elk Meadows 107 acres of off-leash bliss.

“Evergreen will have an off-leash area for our dogs,” Rich wrote. “It is not the wonderful 107 acres we are used to, but it is something and more than we expected.”

Friends of Elk Meadow are in the process of establishing a nonprofit corporation, which will be called Friends of Evergreen Dog Park, that will be tasked with managing the park in conjunction with Open Space. The group will be run by Rich, Quackenboss and Turner, and Lynda Hanshaw and Michael Cavanaugh. Open Space will consider reopening the upper loop in a couple of years if the new nonprofit can prove it can properly manage the two fenced areas, Rich wrote.

First on tap for the Friends of Evergreen Dog Park is to consider establishing certain best practices for the park, such as whether or not to create membership requirements. The nonprofit and its corps of volunteers also will be tasked with providing education and ensuring patrons adhere to local park rules.

Open Space will work with local law enforcement agencies to ensure parking regulations at the parking lots and along Stagecoach Boulevard are strictly enforced.

With the exception of the two fenced areas, Elk Meadow dog park will close in early April for restoration. Eventually, Open Space would like to move the dog park to a completely new area.

On Wednesday, Quackenboss described Monday’s meeting as pleasant and called the newly developed partnership a good place to start, but said the two sides don’t agree on everything. For example, should Open Space locate a new site for a dog off-leash area, the Friends of Evergreen Dog Park insist that it be of a similar size and in a forested area, Quackenboss said. It was her impression that Open Space officials think finding a site that closely replicates Elk Meadow could be challenging.

Then there’s the preference to maintain Elk Meadow as is, Quackenboss said, noting recent stream testing shows E. Coli levels have dropped to zero from a summertime peak of more than 2,419 coliform units, which is a whopping 20 times higher than EPA standards for water used for recreational purposes. Quackenboss credited several volunteer efforts of late that have resulted in the removal of more than 900 pounds of dog waste since September.

“Even we’re amazed by the community support this park has received,” Quackenboss said. “We’re hoping that they (Open Space) see this is a solvable issue and maybe reopen the entire park in the future. This community clearly wants an open space for their dogs.”

Rich, Quackenboss and Turner also learned during their meeting with Open Space that dog park neighbors, including those located downstream who might have wells tainted with E. coli, have for a long time been urging Jeffco's county commissioners and Open Space to close Elk Meadow.

“We surprised them with our large base and strong, committed opposition,” Rich wrote. “Our demand that our voices be heard resulted in their agreement to keep the park open.”

Friends of Evergreen Dog Park hope to have a website, www.FriendsOfEvergreenDogPark.org, up and running this week where updates and information will be posted.

Open Space’s third community meeting about Elk Meadow, also scheduled for Thursday, is still taking place from 6 to 8 p.m. at Buchanan Rec Center in Evergreen. For more information and to view materials presented at previous meetings, visit jeffco.us/open-space/meetings-agendas/projects-proposals.

Supporters can now also like the new Friends of Evergreen Dog Park page on Facebook.

Reporter Joe Moylan can be reached at jmoylan@evergreenco.com.