Q&A with Erik Glenn, Executive Director, Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT)
K: Tell us a bit about your land trust and how it’s working for Colorado’s future.
E: The mission of CCALT is to conserve Colorado’s western heritage and working landscapes for the benefit of future generations. Working lands provide incredible benefits to Coloradans beyond a safe and healthy food product. They also provide many other ecosystem service benefits like wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration. We believe that agriculture plays a vital role in the future of Colorado as both an economic driver and a driver of quality of life. We seek to keep these working lands working and to ensure that Coloradans understand the importance these lands play in making Colorado, the Colorado we know and love.
K: What is one thing you wish every Coloradan understood about the work of land trusts?
E: The thing I wish people better understood about our work is the overall economic impact. There are a few fundamental things related to economic impact that people need to understand. First, our work does not take property off of county tax rolls. Further, the work of land trusts actually reduces the costs of services that counties must provide. Second, most open spaces produce both ecosystem goods (for example, food) and ecosystem services (for example, carbon sequestration). Both of these have economic value to society, but society only pays for the ecosystem goods. And last, conservation spurs investment in communities.
K: What inspired you to join the board of Keep It Colorado?
E: I joined the board of Keep it Colorado in 2011 (back when it was the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts). I originally joined to stay involved with conservation as I changed careers. As some in our community may remember, I left CCALT for about six months in 2011 to take a job with a national education-based nonprofit. It has been the policy work and the community of collaboration that Keep It Colorado fosters that has inspired me to remain involved.
K: What does conservation mean to you?
E: To me, conservation is about ensuring that both current and future generations have the resources they need to live healthy, productive and meaningful lives.
K: What is your favorite thing to do outdoors in Colorado?
E: For me, the outdoors is about family connections, so I don’t have a singular favorite outdoor activity. I find joy in any outdoor activity, from walking with my wife and kids, to hunting and fishing with my dad, to fixing fence with my grandfather.
K: What is your favorite…
River, lake or stream in Colorado? The Little Snake River
Mountain peak? Mt. Shavano
Prairie or grassland? It’s a tie between the grasslands of southeast Colorado and the sage-brush dominated grasslands of northwest Colorado
Ranch or farmland? The Focus Ranch in Routt County (mountain property) and the Stacked Lazy Three Ranch in Elbert County (plains ranch)
Colorado-grown food? Pueblo chiles
Form of wildlife? Bobcat!
Thank you for your service to Colorado and your leadership on our board, Erik!
