DENVER – The Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) Board awarded $399,250 in grants for its conservation easement transaction costs and conservation excellence grant programs on Monday. Nine projects were funded that will conserve agricultural land, wildlife habitat, and water supply or will improve best practices in the conservation community.

GOCO’s conservation easement transaction costs grant program is new for 2016, providing more than $200,000 to help landowners place conservation easements on their land. A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement with landowners that permanently conserves their property, removing the threat of future development.

GOCO created this grant program to make sure land with significant ecological, scenic, or recreational benefit is not vulnerable to development because of transaction cost barriers. Emphasis was placed on projects that would conserve large areas of land at once or fill in missing gaps in conserved areas and projects that would conserve water resources.

While many conservation projects are completed in Colorado without GOCO’s assistance, closing costs associated with placing a conservation easement on a property can be a barrier for landowners wishing to conserve their properties. To be eligible for the program, landowners were required to donate the entire value of the conservation easement for the project.

The conservation easement transaction costs program funded five projects in three counties for a total of $209,250.

GOCO’s conservation excellence program provides a funding source for studies and pilot projects that will improve best practices in land conservation. The grants awarded Monday funded four projects of regional or statewide significance for a total of $200,000.

Project details are as follows:

Bender Conservation Easement, $34,500 grant to Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas (LTUA)

The Bender Conservation Easement will conserve approximately 86 acres along the South Arkansas River in Poncha Springs. The Arkansas is the lifeblood of Chaffee County, providing agricultural and municipal water supply, sustaining wildlife populations, and supporting outdoor recreation that bolsters the county’s economy.

This will prevent development, support local agriculture, and protect views from the Collegiate Peaks Scenic Byway and the Methodist Mountain Trail System.

Community Conservation Initiative, $43,500 grant to Montezuma Land Conservancy (MLC)

MLC’s Community Conservation Initiative will explore a new business model for land trusts and land conservation in Colorado. The traditional business model relies on project fees from new conservation easements, which are the voluntary legal agreements between landowners and land trusts that permanently place property under protection from development.

MLC plans to embark on a community engagement effort to increase local awareness and education on land conservation in order to help ensure the organization’s sustainability. MLC will create a whitepaper about the initiative to share with land trusts across the state.

Heartland Ranch, $40,000 grant to Colorado Open Lands

Colorado Open Lands (COL) will acquire a conservation easement on more than 10,000 acres in Bent County. The project will enable Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT) to acquire an additional adjacent 7,000 acres of land, creating an area of conserved land larger than the city of Boulder.

The project will protect wildlife habitat, scenic views, and river habitat while preserving water supply for humans and wildlife. SPLT is committed to improving wildlife habitat for more species and hopes to use the area for environmental education.

Huckleberry Hills Ranch Conservation Easement, $50,000 grant to San Isabel Land Protection Trust

Huckleberry Hills is a 500-acre property in Pueblo County adjacent to the San Isabel National Forest. The ranch contains 1.5 miles of the South Muddy and Huckleberry Creeks, and its iconic barn has appeared on the cover of the Rye phonebook for many years.

Protection of this ranch will provide habitat for endangered and threatened wildlife; continue local, sustainable agriculture; protect the water supply for people and wildlife; and preserve scenic views along Highway 165.

The project adds to the 200,000-acre stretch of undisturbed forest across the Wet Mountains and marks the completion of a decade-long vision of the land trust and landowner.

Jenkins Creek Ranch, $44,350 grant to Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT)

CCALT will acquire a conservation easement on approximately 1,360 acres of agricultural land in Larimer County. The project will protect 2.6 miles of Forest Creek, Granny Creek, and the Laramie River and will provide an important buffer of scenic views around a public campground located on the property.  

The property also provides wildlife habitat for a number of species and has senior water rights. Conserving the land will help maintain water supply for people, wildlife, agriculture, and outdoor recreation. Protecting rivers and creeks also preserves scenic views that people know and love.

It is estimated that Colorado loses 30,000 acres of agricultural land each year, and conserving productive ranching and farming land also supports sustainable food production and bolsters the economies of rural Colorado towns.

Keeping Conserved Lands in Agriculture, $7,640 grant to Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas (LTUA)

LTUA will determine how to keep conserved land in farming and ranching, creating food, jobs, and ecological benefits for Colorado. Conserved land that stops production negatively impacts economies of rural areas.

This project has statewide significance, ultimately providing a report and sample language for conservation easements that will be distributed by the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts and the Colorado Land Link conference. LTUA will partner with five other organizations to examine how to tailor other states’ methods to Colorado projects and determine whether new methods are necessary for the state.

Land Trust Collaboration on the West Slope, $48,860 grant to Mesa Land Trust

This project will expand the capacity of Mesa Land Trust and Black Canyon Regional Land Trust to conserve land in western Colorado. The project will also establish a shared database to track easement information, and the organizations will hold community engagement events to ensure future success.

Partnering for Perpetuity, $100,000 grant to Colorado Open Lands

Colorado Open Lands (COL) received a $100,000 grant as the top-ranked project in this round of conservation excellence funding. COL requested funding to build on recent GOCO-funded work to prevent abandoned conservation easements.

Conservation easements are legal documents that permanently protect land from development. They can be abandoned if the holder of the easement (such as a land trust or other conservation organization) no longer exists or fails to meet its obligations, such as monitoring the property regularly.  

COL has absorbed more than 100 easements over nearly 43,000 acres of land after merging with Legacy Land Trust. The organization will use this latest GOCO funding to work with other land trusts towards long-term sustainability without negatively affecting its ability to manage its own portfolio of easements.

Proposed Wichmann Conservation Easement, $40,400 grant to Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas (LTUA)

LTUA also received a $40,400 transaction costs grant for the 50-acre Wichmann property on the Arkansas River.

The project provides scenic views for rafters and anglers as well as drivers on Highway 24. Conserving this property will provide recreation access for people and economic benefits to the region in addition to protecting critical migration routes for wildlife.

Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) invests a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds to help preserve and enhance the state’s parks, trails, wildlife, rivers, and open spaces. GOCO’s independent board awards competitive grants to local governments and land trusts, and makes investments through Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Created when voters approved a Constitutional Amendment in 1992, GOCO has since funded more than 4,700 projects in urban and rural areas in all 64 counties without any tax dollar support. Visit GOCO.org for more information.