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.
A grant recently awarded by the group Keep it Colorado will help protect 2,565 acres of land adjacent to Mesa Verde National Park, the San Juan Scenic Byway and San Juan National Forest. The move is expected to preserve iconic views entering the park, support agricultural resiliency, protect significant archaeological sites and maintain critical wildlife habitat. . Comments from James Reimann, conservation director, Montezuma Land Conservancy.
The year 2022 has been a good one for conserving Colorado’s natural resources. With financial assistance from Keep It Colorado, six land trusts helped landowners conserve about 4,725 acres of land spanning 10 counties. That is equivalent to 3,579 American football fields, nine Grand Lakes or 1.8% of Rocky Mountain National Park. Protection efforts also included acreage along 13 miles of stream.
America the Beautiful, or 30 by 30, is not a land grab. Nobody is taking away farmers’ and ranchers’ private property rights. Conservation and conservation easements are voluntary. And conservation easements, which are legal agreements to protect land in perpetuity, create more — not fewer — options for landowners.
Read our letter to the editor in the Summit Daily: “Conservation easements are a perpetual protection tool.”
Read our op ed in the Colorado Sun: “Forever means forever. Colorado’s iconic landscapes require ‘perpetual conservation easements’ protection”
Read what we had to say about Summit County’s plan to end a conservation easement in the Colorado Sun.
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