Remembering Bill Ruskin: A Founding Vision for Colorado Springs Conservation

Dear Friends,

Palmer is fortunate to have a founding story deeply rooted in the Colorado Springs community, and Bill Ruskin was instrumental in bringing that story to life. It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Bill’s passing. As we approach Palmer’s 50th anniversary in 2027, we are especially mindful of the extraordinary people whose vision, energy, and generosity helped establish the organization and the conservation legacy we carry forward today.

Bill played an essential role in Palmer’s founding story and in shaping Colorado Springs’ relationship with its parks, trails, and open spaces. He joined the City of Colorado Springs Parks and Recreation Department in 1976 as Manager of Planning, Design, and Development, at a moment when many of the City’s most beloved natural places faced intense pressure.

Bill Ruskin: photo from The Gazette

Bill often recalled that Garden of the Gods had become so heavily used that parts of its central garden had turned into what he described as “a dust bowl.” He understood that protecting special places required thoughtful planning, public support, and a lasting commitment to stewardship. He worked quickly to help the community confront the challenge of loving its parks without loving them to death.

That same forward-looking spirit helped lead to the creation of Palmer. Bill recommended that the City’s newly formed Open Space Advisory Committee establish a fundraising entity to support parks and open spaces. As the story goes, committee members would meet at the Parks and Recreation Department for their official business, adjourn, and then immediately reconvene as the Board of Directors of the Palmer Foundation. From those early meetings, Palmer was born.

A year later, Palmer became an independent organization. To this day, our legal name, William J. Palmer Parks Foundation, reflects those beginnings and the enduring connection between our work and the community’s love for land, water, parks, trails, and open space.

Bill’s influence reached far beyond Palmer. He had an incredibly generous spirit and a deep, lifelong commitment to nature and the outdoors. He was also an early force behind the volunteer trail-building movement. In 1973, he organized the National Hiking and Ski Touring Association, and in 1974 he launched the Volunteer Conservation Corps in Colorado Springs. That program grew into what is now known as Volunteer Vacations, a longstanding program of the American Hiking Society that brings volunteers together to care for trails and public lands across the country. Bill’s vision helped demonstrate the power of people giving their time and energy to protect and improve the outdoor places they love.

Over the past 12 years, I had the privilege of speaking with Bill regularly. His perspective, institutional memory, curiosity, and steady enthusiasm for the future of Colorado Springs were gifts to Palmer and to me personally. He remained deeply engaged in the community and took great interest in the people and ideas shaping its future.

We are profoundly grateful to Bill’s wife, Brigette, for choosing Palmer Land Conservancy as the recipient of memorial gifts in Bill’s honor. If you would like to make a gift in Bill’s memory, contributions to Palmer will help continue the work he helped set in motion nearly five decades ago: conserving land, protecting water, supporting public access to the outdoors, and ensuring that the places we cherish remain part of our community for generations to come.

You can read Bill’s obituary and learn more about his remarkable life.

Please join us in extending our deepest condolences and gratitude to Brigette and the Ruskin family. We are honored to remember Bill’s life and legacy, and we will carry his vision forward with appreciation and care.

Sincerely,