Colorado Open Lands
Our History
Colorado Open Lands' History Reflects Colorado Diversity
Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization in 1981, Colorado Open Lands works cooperatively with all types of landowners, resulting in permanent protection of over 199,154 acres, through 263 projects in 38 counties to date.
Colorado Open Lands' history reflects the diversity of a statewide landtrust with a broad mission and a business-like approach. Truly, the history of Colorado Open Lands' projects reflects the diversity that is Colorado.
A First-of-its-Kind Model
Evans Ranch in Evergreen was one of the first limited development projects in the country, and to this day, serves as a model for other organizations to emulate. The Board and staff looked at more than 50 alternatives before settling on establishing 5 ranches along the main valleys of the property and allowing no further subdivision.
With the generous assistance of the Gates Family Foundation, Colorado Open Lands received a low-interest loan allowing for the acquisition of the $4.5 million property. The negotiations for the Ranch played out on the front page of the Denver Post. Amazingly enough, it was the people reading the stories and concerned about the property who became the owners of most of the 5 ranches.
Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Onions?
Colorado Open Lands was also instrumental in helping to establish the Denver Urban Gardens. Colorado Open Lands negotiated options to purchase two garden sites, helped find financing, and helped DUG establish a strong membership. Today, Denver Urban Gardens is alive and well, serving the community gardening needs of Denver.
Protecting Contiguous Blocks of Land
In 1986, the late Rath Falk donated the Pine Cliff Ranch with the intent that we figure out a protective development alternative for the Ranch. Colorado Open Lands sought to protect the land around the Ranch in the unincorporated portion of western Douglas County that was experiencing rapid 35-acre development.
Colorado Open Lands purchased the 830-acre Allis Ranch as well as other properties around Pine Cliff, thus helping to preserve the wildlife habitat and scenic nature of the area. Pine Cliff itself was protected in 1999 when Laura and David Merage purchased the Ranch and protected it with a conservation easement.
Lottery Dollars for Open Space
In 1992, Great Outdoors Colorado was founded, ushering in a new era of land conservation in Colorado.
One of the first projects Colorado Open Lands worked on using GOCO funding was the 1,240-acre Heil Valley Ranch in Boulder County.
The recent conclusion of the South Park Basin Legacy Project, fueled by a $3,500,000 Legacy Initiative grant from Great Outdoors Colorado, and more than $1,500,000 in matching grants and contributions from various sources, represents a milestone for both Colorado Open Lands and our partners in the South Park Community Conservation Area.
The three-year project preserved over 15,500 acres of private lands, and generated new public recreational and educational opportunities based upon South Park’s unique natural and cultural resources. This demonstration of successful conservation activity has in turn led to Congressional action to designate South Park a National Heritage Area.
To date, Colorado Open Lands has completed 32 projects using GOCO funds, as well as establishing the Land Protection Fellowship Program.
Expanding Parks
One of our more challenging local government projects involved working with the City of Lakewood to acquire a portion of four separate parcels adjacent to Belmar Park - Lakewood's Flagship Park. The project was complicated because the negotiations involved four different landowners, each with different personal and financial objectives.
At the end of the four-hour closing, the City owned the north half of two parcels next to the park, the one landowner who wished to sell was able to, and the adjacent landowners owned the southern half of the two parcels that they had wished to own. While not all of our Government Assistance Program projects are this complicated, this project could not have been completed without Colorado Open Lands' private expertise.
Working with Communities
In the last 9 years, Colorado Open Lands has developed the Community Conservation Program. The truly exciting aspect of the community approach is that the community directs the open space goals.
Another key component of the Community Conservation Program is the partnerships with local governments, landowners, business people, other land trusts and funding agencies that are necessary to make them work.
In recent years, Colorado Open Lands started work in two new Community Conservation Areas. The Peak to Prairie Conservation Initiative stretches from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to the eastern plains of El Paso, Pueblo, Lincoln and Crowley Counties, contains globally rare grassland ecosystems, a 20-mile stretch of Fountain Creek, important riparian habitats, working ranches and scenic vistas that inspire residents and visitors alike.
The landscape shelters unique and valuable natural and cultural resources of statewide, national, and worldwide significance. Encompassing more than 2.1 million acres of diverse land and water uses and home to over 723,000 people, the region offers three of Colorado's most vital resources – the agricultural and tourism economic base, recreational opportunities, and biologically diverse and globally rare prairie ecosystems.
This Initiative envisions a connected and ecologically functional landscape. Our goal is to protect key properties that preserve the resources that define this region: resources such as agriculture, breathtaking scenery, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities and the local economy.
Our other new area is the South Platte River. The Corridor juxtaposes wetland and riparian areas, shortgrass prairie, and sand hills habitat against some of the most significant agriculturally productive lands in the state of Colorado. The primary element that ties these unique landscapes together is the growing need for an ever-dwindling supply of water. Since the settlers descended upon the South Platte River corridor, wetlands habitat and agricultural development have been inexorably linked.
Working with our partners in the area, Colorado Open Lands is working to permanently protect 12,000 acres in this corridor. Additionally, we seek to assure that water rights associated with our projects will be protected and used to protect wildlife benefits and the agricultural way of life.
The preservation of these assets is tantamount to the long-term economic sustainability of the area.
Unique Opportunities
Every once in a while, a land trust gets the opportunity to work on a truly unique and stunning piece of land. The Forbes Trinchera Ranch was just such an opportunity. The spectacular Trinchera property comprises the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between the towns of La Veta and Fort Garland, south of Highway 160. The Forbes Trinchera Ranch includes Harrison, Napoleon, Trinchera and Cuatro Peaks, and is drained by the upper seven miles of Trinchera Creek.
The Forbes Trinchera Ranch is the largest remaining undeveloped land parcel within the historic Sangre de Cristo land grant, which dates to 1843. Purchased by the late Malcolm Forbes in 1969 as a family retreat, the property has been managed since that time to maintain and enhance its ecological values.
Donated by Forbes Trinchera, Inc., a subsidiary of Forbes, Inc., the gift is the largest conservation easement in Colorado history. Colorado Open Lands was truly appreciative of the opportunity to help protect this historic ranch. Click here for the article about the Forbes donation (PDF File) .
Looking to the Future
Today, Colorado Open Lands seeks to expand on the success of its past. With new incentives for land preservation such as state tax credits and the public's continued concern over the loss of open space, it is imperative that Colorado Open Lands stay abreast, and lead where possible, of new trends and options for private land conservation.
It is by building on the successful traditions of its past - working closely with landowners, looking for innovative funding approaches, and bringing a broad conservation real estate expertise to the table - that Colorado Open Lands will continue to be a major player in the land conservation field.