Joe O'Brien

Joe has worked in public lands for over fifteen years. Starting in on-the-ground roles as a wildland firefighter, trail crew leader, wilderness guide and volunteer project coordinator before moving into programming roles with Colorado Parks & Wildlife, AllTrails, and OpenStreetMap US, Joe brings a broad set of experience to the issues we face today in outdoor recreation and conservation. In recent years he has founded and led multiple initiatives that allow public land officials access to broad audiences through partnerships with technology platforms. In a previous role with Colorado Parks & Wildlife he supported the creation of the Planning Trails with Wildlife in Mind guidelines in Colorado which provide best practices for agencies across the state building sustainable and environmentally responsible trail systems. Previously Joe developed the Public Lands Program at AllTrails which provides management agencies authority over recommended trail routes for millions of visitors. Joe also acted as a lead consultant on the OpenStreetMap US Trails Stewardship Initiative which brings together government, nonprofit and private organizations to improve trail data that is used to inform maps viewed by hundreds of millions of people in the US each year. He currently manages the Colorado Trail Explorer (COTREX) app and program which partners with agencies, tourism organizations, and nonprofits around the state to provide official, authoritative trail information to the public.


In his free time he's on the trail with his wife Ali and their trail dog Moon as often as possible and is a regular volunteer for various outdoor nonprofits in Colorado including VOC.