Keep It Colorado awards $215K in transaction cost assistance program funding for five conservation projects

June 14, 2023

Media Contacts:
Rosemary Dempsey, 303.226.4530, rdempsey@goco.org
Diane Metzger, 303.226.4507, dmetzger@goco.org
Crystal Medrano, 303.226.4522, cmedrano@goco.org

Keep It Colorado awards $215K in transaction cost assistance program funding for five conservation projects

DENVER–Today the Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) board is pleased to announce that Keep It Colorado has awarded $215,000 in GOCO funding for five projects in Bent, Costilla, Dolores, Mesa, and Rio Blanco Counties.

With its Transaction Cost Assistance Program (TCAP), Keep It Colorado re-grants GOCO funds to nonprofit land trusts to help cover the costs associated with conservation easement transactions. It enables landowners who have urgent opportunities to conserve their properties, but who face financial barriers to facilitating the transaction, to conserve land more quickly.

The five projects will achieve many important outcomes, including:

Conserving 13,375 acres of critical wetlands and wildlife habitat, family orchards and vineyards, agricultural landscapes, and water rights.
Protecting critical habitat for federally endangered Colorado pikeminnow, federally listed western yellow-billed cuckoo, burrowing owl, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, golden eagle, greater sage grouse, little brown myotis, cutthroat trout, flannelmouth sucker, northern leopard frog, bald eagle, wild turkey, great blue heron, Canada geese, piping plover, sandhill cranes, southwest willow flycatcher, bears, lynx, elk, mule deer, pronghorn, moose, and numerous additional species.
Buffering lands of the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado Parks & Wildlife, and other conservation easement lands, creating landscape-scale connectivity and resiliency across diverse regions.

“With this assistance, GOCO and Keep It Colorado ease the financial burden on landowners who’ve voluntarily chosen to conserve their land, protecting critical landscapes that make Colorado so special,” said Linda Lidov, interim executive director of Keep It Colorado.

Project details:

Theos Family Ranches, $45,000 to Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT)

CCALT is partnering with Theos Family Ranches to permanently conserve 3,426 acres of land east of Meeker that shares miles of boundary with federal land. The property features diverse, high-quality habitat, ranging from dryland pastures at 6,600 feet in elevation to mountainous terrain at nearly 8,900 feet in elevation. The Nature Conservancy’s Resilient and Connected Network analysis indicates that the property has both significant biodiversity and climate resilience. Conservation of this property secures critical habitat for golden eagle, cutthroat trout, and greater sage grouse, among other important species. Maintaining this multigenerational sheep operation as open ranchland also protects the scenic character and agricultural heritage of the region.

Verhoeff Family Farm and Ranch, $45,000 to Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT)

This grant to CCALT will help conserve the Verhoeff Family Farm and Ranch adjacent to John Martin Reservoir State Park in Southeast Colorado’s shortgrass prairie. The Verhoeff property consists of 5,344 acres of farm and ranchland. The agricultural operation is very productive with over 1,700 irrigated acres of crops and pasture, with the remaining grasslands used for grazing. The conservation easement will encumber the land and water rights to ensure that the farm can remain a working agricultural operation in this rural community. The Verhoeffs are passionate conservationists who steward more than 1,500 acres of wetlands, two reservoirs, and 3.5 miles of the Arkansas River. The family has observed over 300 species of birds in this resilient and biodiverse habitat. The property’s riparian habitat and grasslands possess an outsized importance for an abundance of wildlife species on a local as well as regional scale.

Chris and Carol Kester Ranch, $35,000 to Colorado Open Lands

This GOCO grant through Keep It Colorado supports Colorado Open Lands with a project to conserve Chris and Carol Kester Ranch, a multigenerational working ranch. Chris and Carol Kester Ranch is 85% irrigated, supplied by both senior surface water rights and groundwater. The ranch owners, who are in the process of transitioning much of the ranch management to their daughter, have stewarded the ranch land and its water to support important wetlands and habitat for sandhill cranes and other wildlife. Leveraging both the conservation easement tax credit and Natural Resources Conservation Service funding, the project will not only protect 1,471 acres of productive agricultural lands and wetland habitat, but also guarantees that water supporting both economic and ecological functions will remain in the San Luis Valley. Its protection provides connectivity from the 172,000-acre conserved Trinchera Ranch in the upper watershed across the valley floor to the mainstem of the Rio Grande.

Avant Vineyards, $45,000 to Colorado West Land Trust (CWLT)

This grant to CWLT will help protect a portion of Avant Vineyards near Palisade. Avant Vineyards lies amid one of Colorado’s most productive agricultural landscapes, situated along the Colorado River on East Orchard Mesa near Palisade. The property contributes to this rich agricultural bounty with nearly 15 acres of fruit production, including both grapes and peaches. Avant Vineyards encompasses 71.6 acres with 31.4 acres already protected with a conservation easement held by CWLT. New funding will support an easement on the remaining 40.2 acres. The project will protect 27 acres of lowland riparian habitat below the mesa along the Colorado River that boasts “outstanding biodiversity significance” as designated by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, along with roughly nine acres of productive vineyards. This critical habitat is home to many important species, from the globally imperiled Rio Grande cottonwood and skunkbush riparian forest to wetlands and backwaters along the Colorado River.

Ivins Ranch, $45,000 to Montezuma Land Conservancy (MLC)

This grant to MLC will support the permanent protection of the 3,054-acre Ivins Ranch in Dolores County. Ivins Ranch is surrounded by public lands, with McKenna Peak Wilderness Study Area to the west and Lone Cone State Wildlife Area to the east. Without this timely conservation effort, this multigenerational working cattle ranch would otherwise be susceptible to development pressure as other nearby properties have been subdivided. Conservation of this property protects corridors for wildlife migration along with quality habitat such as elk calving ground, elk winter range, and two seasonal streams. This is particularly important as Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff have observed steady declines in local elk herds over the last few years from human impacts and climate change. Conserving this landscape simultaneously supports the future for wildlife and working lands.

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 5,600 projects in all 64 counties of Colorado without any tax dollar support. Visit GOCO.org for more information.