There’s a lot of fanfare around grant awards, but what happens after the ceremonial checks are presented and the reporters have published their articles? Our partners get down to business.
For 30 years, GOCO has improved Colorado’s great outdoors with the help of Colorado Lottery proceeds. We’ve put more than $1.4 billion in proceeds back into 5,700 projects to improve the lives of Coloradans across the state.
After projects are awarded funding, grant recipients usually have about two years to make their projects happen.
In recent months, 7 projects wrapped up, representing $626,022 in GOCO investments into local communities across the state. Scroll to see if one’s near you:
Carbondale - Connecting Communities to Conserved Lands
$110,000 grant to the Town of Carbondale
With a Resilient Communities grant, Aspen Valley Land Trust (AVLT) and the Town of Carbondale completed restoration projects at Red Hill Trailhead and Riverfront Park. At Red Hill Trailhead, funding supported a picnic shade structure that can be used as an outdoor classroom, landscaping of the trailhead area, permanent signage, a kiosk, a bear-proof trash receptacle, a bike rack, and a portable restroom shed. At Riverfront Park, funding supported the restoration of a half mile along the Crystal River. The park now features ADA access and a naturally landscaped outdoor classroom used by nearby schools, nonprofits, and community partners. These projects are part of AVLT’s larger initiative of five projects to improve access for residents and visitors at parks, trails, and open spaces across Garfield and Gunnison Counties.
Learn more about AVLT
Crazy French Ranch/ Fishers Peak Storytelling
$10,000 grant to Trust for Public Land
This funding supported photography and storytelling showcasing Fishers Peak State Park (pictured above) and its importance to the communities of Trinidad and Las Animas counties. Through marketing materials, social media, philanthropy assets, and more, TPL illustrated the project’s scale and impact.
In 2020, GOCO supported the Trust for Public Land (TPL) in acquiring the 19,200-acre Crazy French Ranch that became Colorado’s 42nd State Park: Fishers Peak. The property features over 55 square miles of publicly accessible land providing ample recreational opportunities and protected wildlife areas.
Learn more about Fishers Peak State Park
Elephant Rock Park Trails Project
$34,400 grant to the Town of Palmer Lake
With a Conservation Service Corps (CSC) grant, the Town of Palmer Lake partnered with Mile High Youth Corps to establish a publicly accessible hiking trail system on 28 acres of newly acquired land. Over four weeks, crews constructed 2.3 miles of new trails, primarily along North Monument Creek, that connected the trail system to multiple existing trails including the popular Creekside Trail. This project expanded public access to open spaces within the Town of Palmer Lake for residents and visitors while providing accessible trails for youth, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities.
Learn more about The Town of Palmer Lake’s trails
Kuhn Ranch- COL’s Acequia Initiative (Phase II): Working to Conserve Colorado’s Oldest Agricultural Communities
$135,600 grant to Colorado Open Lands
As part of their Acequia Conservation Initiative to protect Colorado’s oldest farms and agricultural settlements in the southern San Luis Valley, Colorado Open Lands (COL) used its Open Space grant to help conserve the 149.9-acre Kuhn Ranch. The property is irrigated with historic acequias, community ditches established in the 1800s to help maximize the number of people with access to water for irrigation, livestock, and farming. The ranch contains diverse plant communities including riverbank forests and wetlands, irrigated hayfields, and sagebrush shrublands that provide habitat for elk, mule deer, black bear, wild turkey, birds, and other small mammals. This project ensured this property would never be developed or subdivided.
Learn more about COL
Prime Sandhill Crane Habitat
$35,000 grant to Colorado Open Lands through Keep It Colorado
With this funding, Colorado Open Lands partnered with local landowners to permanently protect nearly 1,500 acres in Costilla County. The property is a working ranch and features irrigated meadows, grazing land, and important water rights. The property provides prime habitat for various wildlife including elk, mule deer, pronghorn, black bear, mountain lion, sandhill cranes that gather on the property in early spring, and endangered and threatened species including the southwestern willow flycatcher and burrowing owl.
This grant is part of Keep It Colorado’s Transaction Cost Assistance Program that re-grants GOCO funds to help cover transaction costs associated with conservation easements.
Learn more about TCAP
Purgatoire Watershed Restoration and Recreation Enhancement Project
$286,296 grant to the City of Trinidad
The City of Trinidad used a Stewardship Impact grant to restore and enhance habitat and trails along the Purgatoire River, the Trinidad Riverwalk and Boulevard addition, and Fishers Peak. This project also supported the creation of the Purgatoire Watershed Outdoor Stewardship Program. Designed by a coalition of statewide and local partners, the program prioritizes stewardship projects in the Trinidad area while emphasizing the importance of collaboration and community leadership in these efforts, supporting increased community participation.
Learn more about the Purgatoire Watershed Outdoor Stewardship Program
Walton Loop and Tater Tots Trail Development and Maintenance
$14,726 grant to the Town of Buena Vista
With this Conservation Service Corps grant, the Town of Buena Vista and the Buena Vista Singletrack Coalition partnered with Southwest Conservation Corps-Los Valles crews to work on the Tater Tots and Walton Loop trails. Over two weeks, crews removed vegetation and rocks, leveled and shaped the trails, and installed wayfinding signage on the one-mile beginner mountain bike TaterTots Singletrack Loop, and on the half-mile Walton Loop ADA Compliant Trail. These trails run parallel to each other providing a designated segment for entry-level riders and safer access to river views and other nearby outdoor amenities and trail systems.
Read a local press release about the project