Conservationists have released a plan to protect key lands and waters in Colorado that people and nature need to survive and thrive in a changing climate. “Conserving Colorado: A 10-year Roadmap for the Future of Private Land Conservation” calls for doubling the number of acres protected over the next 10 years, from 3.3 million to 6.6 million acres. Comments from Linda Lidov, interim executive director, Keep It Colorado.
Keep It Colorado will award $840,000 in assistance to 10 nonprofit Colorado land trusts, which will support landowners who have volunteered to protect their properties through conservation. The 15 selected projects will help permanently protect over 13,000 acres of working ranches, wetlands, water rights and wildlife corridors on land that would otherwise be at imminent risk of being subdivided or converted to other uses.
Keep It Colorado has received $1.52 million to provide transaction, planning, capacity and community engagement support to Colorado’s land conservation community. The funds are organized under two programs: the Transaction Cost Assistance Program and Organizational Advancement. They will enable coalition members to take steps in implementing Conserving Colorado: A 10-year Roadmap for the Future of Private Land Conservation.
Oh, what a week it was! Spring Summit this year (May 8-10) was an event for the books. Over 150 members and partners traveled to Morgridge Commons in Glenwood Springs for the annual convening despite snowy roads and tunnel closures. We packed three full days with a water classroom, a water lab, a field trip to Cold Mountain Ranch, learning sessions, plenty of connection and networking opportunities, and Conservation Olympics.
Keep It Colorado and the Land Trust Alliance have partnered to award nearly $160,000 in grants to land trusts and conservation nonprofits, helping them strengthen and build programs to create a more diverse, equitable, inclusive and just conservation sector and advance organizational capacity. Investments from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) generously funded this initiative through Keep It Colorado’s Emerging Conservation Opportunities (ECO) program.
In the final day of the legislative session, the Colorado General assembly advanced a bill to extend and expand Colorado’s Conservation Easement Tax Credit to Governor Polis for his signature. Senate Bill 24-126 builds upon the immense success of the tax credit program by increasing the tax credit cap by $5 million for a total of $50 million annually, which will help meet the current demand and expand the state's conservation reach.
A bill to extend and expand Colorado’s Conservation Easement Tax Credit was introduced in the State Senate. Senate Bill 126 aims to build upon the immense success of the tax credit program by eliminating the expiration dates of the Conservation Easement Oversight Commission and the Certified Holder program. It also proposes to raise the tax credit cap to $75 million to meet the current demand and expand the state's conservation reach.
Colorado voters across the political spectrum say they want lawmakers to ramp up voluntary conservation of the state's privately-owned forests, farms, clean water sources and wildlife habitat - according to a new poll conducted by New Bridge Strategy on behalf of Keep It Colorado, with support from Trust for Public Land and The Nature Conservancy. Comments from Lori Weigel, principal, New Bridge Strategy.
Keep It Colorado will award $260,000 in assistance to six nonprofit land trusts across Colorado, which will support landowners who have volunteered to protect their properties through conservation. The projects will permanently protect 2,637 acres of working ranches, wetlands, water rights and wildlife corridors on land that would otherwise be at imminent risk of being subdivided or converted to other uses.
Ducks Unlimited (DU) has pledged to support Keep It Colorado’s grant program, the Transaction Cost Assistance Program (TCAP). TCAP provides financial support to Colorado’s land conservation community to help cover costs associated with conservation easement transactions, which protect land in perpetuity. Keep It Colorado will apply DU’s investment toward conservation projects that involve Colorado wetlands and benefit migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife and natural resources.
A new statewide survey of Colorado voters found broad, bipartisan support for continuing tax incentives for tools that enable landowners to voluntarily conserve land on their properties, and that increase available tax incentives for those willing landowners. The majority of respondents say they would also tell their state legislator to vote in favor of doubling the amount of land that can be conserved through Colorado’s system of existing tax incentives.
Across the state, counties and municipalities have ballot measures in place to support a variety of open space efforts, from trail maintenance, river restoration and wildfire mitigation, to land acquisition, wildlife protection and more. Four measures will be on Fall 2023 ballots - we summarize them, and offer a small glimpse of other initiatives already active within the state. Also available is a complete list of all ballot measures supporting protection of open spaces.
Keep It Colorado has received a grant of $25,000 from the Trinchera Blanca Foundation to help advance goals of Conserving Colorado: A 10-year Roadmap for the Future of Private Land Conservation. Trinchera Blanca Foundation’s investment will enable Keep It Colorado to support its coalition members in making progress on the implementation phase of the roadmap.
Today, GOCO’s board approved the second installment of a three-year, $3-million investment in conservation initiatives supported by Keep It Colorado. The investment will advance on-the-ground projects to protect lands through conservation efforts; demonstrate the economic return on investment of conservation; and grow land trusts’ capacity to engage more people in conservation while reflecting the multifaceted interests of Colorado’s diverse communities.
The Eagle Valley Outdoor Movement is working to make access to outdoor recreation more accessible to Spanish-speaking residents. Currently, 20% of the county’s residents, many of whom speak Spanish, do not have ready access to parks and open space. Comments from Jessica Foulis, executive director, Eagle Valley Land Trust.
We held our annual Public Agency Roundtable in Longmont, where Boulder County Parks and Open Space treated us to a walking tour of Pella Crossing. After the tour, we met to celebrate agencies' recent successes, discuss current challenges, share updates about Keep It Colorado's latest activities, and finally, network over a delicious lunch.
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