I’m hoping you’ve read about the $2.5 million Great Outdoors Colorado award to improve and protect Pikes Peak. Conservation buddies have asked me, “Is this a good thing?” No, it’s a great thing!

I admit to bias. The Trails and Open Space Coalition led the effort to complete the Ring the Peak Trail for 10-plus years. While this money will not complete the trail, it will improve existing segments, add a trailhead and support trail construction. It will add camping opportunities in the region and additional protection for Pikes Peak. An ambassador program will support better management and enforcement. Forest thinning will improve wildlife habitat.

Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance and key partners, along with GOCO and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, deserve credit for making this happen. Credit also belongs to many members of the public who showed up and spoke out, creating a cohesive vision that led to the award.

The goal? Enhance the beauty and grandeur of America’s Mountain and make it “exceptional.”

I’m trying to recall the last time I used or even heard that word. It’s not a word that should be taken lightly. It means we commit to producing recreational opportunities that are significantly better than you’d find on other natural wonders. It won’t be enough simply to improve or protect Pikes Peak. The bar must be set much higher and involve out-of-the-box solutions that complete exceptional projects in a timely manner. The public has waited long enough.

Remember when our last governor declared the Ring the Peak Trail as one of his 16 in 2016 priority trails? Gov. John Hickenlooper singled out the trail and mountain for exceptional potential. An excellent plan was created, building on work that began in the late 1990s.

Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative broadened the project’s scope and set the recreational community’s sights higher. It was no longer merely about a trail circling the peak, but balancing world-class recreation with first-class resource protection.

Gov. Jared Polis has made two trips to Colorado Springs within the past year to promote the effort and to tout amazing possibilities that could lead to tangible economic benefits.

Over the next three years, watch for trail improvements, new management structures and pilot projects. There will be opportunities for the public to pitch in.

For a person or place to become exceptional, it requires a significant investment by those with a heartfelt belief in what “could be.” There are no shortcuts. This is going to be a long process that requires additional investment and cooperation among agencies, nonprofits and jurisdictions.

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Davies is the former executive director of the Trails and Open Space Coalition.