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Colorado conservation organizations have protected over 1.95 million acres!
Conservation Success - 2 million acres protected!

Colorado conservation organizations have protected nearly 2 million acres of wildlife habitat, working agricultural lands and significant natural landscapes. That’s 3 percent of Colorado's total land area!

Did you know?
  • Colorado ranks second nationally in the use of conservation easements for land protection. Land trusts have protected over 1.57 million acres in Colorado, more than 80% of all conserved land.  Local governments have protected another 384,000 acres of land.
  • Colorado is one of the fastest growing states in the nation with a population that is expected to grow by one million people in the next ten years
  • We are losing 100,000 acres per year of productive agriculture, scenic views, wildlife and valuable water resources to development.
  • A recent study has identified an additional 2 million acres of critical lands that need to be protected in the next ten years. The Coalition and our member organizations are up to the challenge, but only with your support!

Examples of Lands Preserved with Conservation Easements

Name: Johnston Ranch
Location: Teller County, on both sides of U.S. Highway 24
Acres Preserved: 330 acres, preserved in 2002 and 2003
Partners: Palmer Land Trust, Great Outdoors Colorado

1Values: On August 18, 2003, the Palmer Land Trust purchased a conservation easement on the 197 acre eastern parcel of the Johnston Ranch. This parcel includes the prominent Johnston hay meadow and ranch headquarters that for many defines rural Colorado. The easement joins the 133 acre easement on the upland meadows purchased in November 2002. The Johnston family has ranched and farmed their property since the early 1900s and continues to raise cattle and other agricultural activities. The ranch is one of the most prominently visible ranches in Teller County, straddling both sides of US Highway 24.  The easements ensure that the pastures will continue to provide a pastoral foreground for the views south to Pikes Peak, maintain a significant ranch in agriculture and preserve important wildlife habitat. Gifts from individuals, two grants from Great Outdoors Colorado, funds from local foundations and the Colorado Department of Transportation, tax credits from the State of Colorado, and a significant price reduction by the Johnstons, were combined to make the project happen.

Name: Harvey Ranch
Location: Pitkin County, adjacent to Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness
Acres Preserved: 1,820 acres, preserved in three easements in 2005 and 2006
Partners: Pitkin County, Aspen Valley Land Trust

3Values: When Connie Harvey saw a classified ad in the paper for a small ranch outside Aspen in 1962, she and her husband went to take a look even though they weren’t looking to buy a ranch. But the Harveys fell in love with the land and bought it immediately. “I view it as a luxury item. Some people like mink coats or fancy cars but I like land a lot better.” After living on the land for over 40 years, the Harveys decided to protect it with a conservation easement so that it could “stay in the relatively natural state at which it is now.” This easement is part of a large scale effort to conserve the scenic, wildlife, recreation, and water values of the Snowmass-Capitol Creek area, and was triggered by the purchase in 2003 of a 1,480-acre conservation easement on the adjacent Capitol Creek Ranch (a.k.a. Child Ranch, where Bob Child received the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s 2003 Landowner of the Year Award).  The Harvey Ranch is on a bench above Snowmass Creek and shares a three-mile boundary with the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area world renowned for its scenic splendor. The ranch is part of the stunning view from the Snowmass Ski Area and the adjacent National Forest. The Ranch was homesteaded in 1893 by the Hunter family, whose namesake creek now traverses the ranch. Pitkin County succeeded in preserving the bulk of this 1,820-acre ranch for $3 million, less than 10% of the price a developer would pay.  The Colorado tax credit program was one of many financial tools needed to make this important project a reality and without it, the Harveys may not have been able to afford to do this transaction.

Name: Higel Ranch
Location: Rio Grande River Corridor between Monte Vista and Alamosa
Acres Preserved: 854 acres, preserved in 2005 and 2006
Partners: Ducks Unlimited, Great Outdoors Colorado, North American Wetlands Conservation Act

5
Values: The 854-acre “Centennial Ranch” borders the 1100-acre Higel State Wildlife Area and is home to a number of waterfowl species. Ducks Unlimited acquired a conservation easement on 299 acres in 2005 using funds from Great Outdoors Colorado and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. The landowners put the remaining 555 acres under easement in 2006 also using Great Outdoors Colorado funding. For their continued conservation work, the landowners were named as recipients of one of six 2006 National Wetlands Awards. They were also honored as Landowner Stewardship Award winners, an award that is given to a private landowner who, while utilizing his or her private land for farming, forestry activities, ranching or development, voluntarily helps restore, protect or minimize impacts on wetlands. The Higel family has protected over 2000 acres of prime wildlife and waterfowl habitat.

If you would like to share your conservation success story please email info@cclt.org with details and a photo.