Source Rock Blog
Outdoor Receation Made Possible by Industry Support
September 31, 2025
Thanks to partners in the oil and natural gas industry, new opportunities for outdoor recreation on public lands opened last week in southern Colorado at the Lobatos Bridge Recreation and Outdoor Education Facility along the Rio Grande River.
The site has been developed into an outdoor recreation and education facility. It’s a place where kayakers, anglers, and hikers can go play. It’s a spot for families to enjoy a picnic and campfire, and local schools to take field trips.
Originally built in the 1880’s, the single-lane Lobatos Bridge still stands as an isolated crossing over the Rio Grande. It was constructed at a time when the area was transitioning from territory that belonged to Mexico and Native Americans into a patchwork of federal lands and homesteads granted to residents moving to the newly formed State of Colorado. The area is still very much like the Wild West.
The project was led by Lori McCullough, founder and CEO of The Great Outdoors Fund (TGOF). We’re grateful for her work because Lori has dedicated herself to partnering with oil and gas companies to support projects that improve public lands. The great news about the Lobatos project is the support provided by Occidental Petroleum even though the facility is far from any of its own projects. Oxy is a leader that made this project happen.
Friday’s event provided a chance to engage with public lands managers from the Bureau of Land Management, state offices like Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), and local recreation groups. It was an opportunity to share about our industry’s significant contributions to conservation through the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) that was created under the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020.
Driving away, looking at what seemed like a pindrop location surrounded by vast grasslands and 14,000-foot peaks in the distance, I was impressed with the history of the area and the future for local residents to enjoy the facility. I was also impressed by the potential to bring our industry together with non-traditional stakeholders to support multiple-use public lands.
Author
Aaron Johnson
Vice President of Public and Legislative Affairs