Meet Molly Susla | Executive Director, 1% for Open Space

We had the good fortune of connecting with Molly Susla and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Molly, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I didn’t start 1% for Open Space. It was started in 1997 by a crew of locals in the Gunnison Valley who thought of a creative way to fund conservation projects around our town centers. I fell into the role of Executive Director in 2018 when I heard the job was open and knew immediately I wanted to apply. It was incredibly important for me to be a part of the conservation world in Crested Butte, where I had been living for five years at the time. To me, I saw conservation as a main theme that connected the entire community. It was an obvious core value of the community and something everyone was willing to rally around. I wanted a part of that. Since growing up in Maine, surrounded by state parks and the Appalachian Mountains, I grew to appreciate what public lands and open spaces could offer me. After studying environmental science in college, I began to understand what humans could do and were required to do to protect our natural world. Taking this job as Executive Director fulfilled a desire to help conserve public and private lands for the betterment of the natural world and the human species.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
1% for Open Space is such a unique organization and I am so honored to represent it. The organization itself works by partnering with local businesses who collect an additional opt-out donation on top of the goods or services they sell. That additional 1% is collected from the customer and then donated to us. We use that money to fund conservation and stewardship projects in the Gunnison Valley. We’ve faced some hardship these past few years as our sales tax rate is now over 9% in town and the additional 1% for Open Space donation puts it over 10% making it fairly noticeable. Also, conservation efforts have been such a high priority over the last 30 years that now we are running into issues of affordable housing and lack of a workforce…not all due to conservation but equally becoming the highest priority in our community. While conservation, stewardship and preservation will always be imperative to the integrity of our watershed and surrounding ecosystems we are struggling to make our case against social issues. Our tactic has been to fund more stewardship projects focusing on restoration of public lands, and improving habitat for endangered species. The projects are more affordable and we are tackling the issue of our public lands being loved to death. I continue to be proud of the work 1% does and what we stand for and as long as humans are around, we will need people to be the voice of the flora and fauna and look out for them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Crested Butte is a small town of about 4,000 year round residents within but also including the neighborhoods outside of town limits. While it is a major recreational hub we also have a good music and arts scene, but on top of all that, we have a tight knit community. I would begin by taking a friend for a hike or bike ride on one of my favorite trails, the best part being that most trails can be accessed from home without needing to get in a car. Then we would probably visit town in the evening where we could run into a bunch of people and have a beer or cocktail on the patio of one of the Elk Ave restaurants. After that, we’d go see either free music on the mountain or in town, or go to a show at the Center for the Arts or the Public House. Somewhere in there, we would jump in the Slate River to refresh in snow melt waters. Ideally, we’d never get in the car and only commute using bikes or walking or taking the free bus!

That’s an ideal day in Crested Butte.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My parents introduced me to the natural playground that our world can offer us. From alpine and nordic skiing, to hiking, to canoeing and kayaking, I found a lot of joy playing outside. But, my parents also introduced me to the resources that our surrounding ecosystems provide that help us to survive. My parents have an insane garden, they chop their own wood for our wood burning stove, and they grow elderberries and other medicinal plants for our medicine cabinet. Growing up with this connection to our backyard instilled a deep appreciation of the outdoors in me. It was an obvious decision to study environmental science in college where I had many professors whose passion for certain species (both flora and fauna) built my appreciation for the natural world into excitement and curiosity.

Website: https://1percentforopenspace.org/

Instagram: @1percentforopenspace

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1percentforopenspace/

Image Credits
Trevor Bona, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Molly Susla