White River Valley - December 2004

Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) and the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) recently helped with the funding of two conservation easements in Rio Blanco County that permanently protect over 4,000-acres of land.

 

The conserved properties are the 321-acre Card Place on the Strang Ranch and the 3,700-acre LK Ranch on Flag Creek.  Yampa Valley Land Trust facilitated the transactions and raised over $2 million in cash for the acquisition of the conservation easements through grants and funding requests prepared by YVLT.

 

The funds provided by GOCO and NRCS, along with contributions from Yampa Valley Land Trust supporters and the generous donation of a portion of the conservation easement value from the landowners made these transactions possible.  YVLT also holds the conservation easements on these properties.

 

The LK Ranch, owned by the Klinglesmith Family, is located on the west edge of the agricultural heart of the White River Valley.  Members of the Klinglesmith Family have a long and notable family history in the Valley dating back to the areas first homesteaders.  The Klinglesmith’s continue their family’s ranching legacy with the conservation of the LK Ranch.

 

The rolling topography, open meadows and agricultural pastureland that extend up the Grand Hogback and along five miles of Flag Creek comprise the majority of the scenic LK Ranch.  Additionally, the LK Ranch and the public lands that surround it (Bureau of Land Management lands, White River National Forest lands and the nearby Oak Ridge State Wildlife Area) provide critical habitat for a multitude of wildlife species including:  elk, mule deer, mountain lion, black bears, bald eagles, greater sage-grouse, sharp-tailed grouse and wild turkey.  The LK Ranch also serves as a migration corridor for several wildlife species moving through the White River Valley over the Grand Hogback.  The conservation easements will permanently protect these scenic, agricultural, wildlife and other open land resources found on the LK Ranch.
 

Yampa Valley Land Trust also received funds from GOCO and NRCS for the conservation easement on a portion of the Strang Ranch known as the Card Place.  The Card Place consists almost entirely of irrigated hay meadow that provides habitat for a variety of wildlife species, including:  bald eagle, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, greater sage-grouse, sandhill crane, great blue heron, elk, deer, mountain lion and black bear.  Views from the county road across the property provide vistas of Oak Ridge and the Meeker Dome, a geological formation located just east of Meeker.

 

In addition to these two “purchased” conservation easements, the Wheeler family recently made a generous “donation” of a conservation easement to YVLT on the YZ Ranch in December of 2004.  The conservation easement on the YZ Ranch conserves 5,280 acres of open ranchland, meadows, forest land, sage-oak hillsides and lush riparian areas that create a scenic landscape and provides important wildlife habitat on the South Fork of the White River.

 

The Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund was established in 1992 when Colorado voters took a major step towards preserving Colorado’s natural heritage.  The Colorado Constitution was amended to include Article XXVII, the “GOCO Amendment”, which dedicates a portion of state lottery proceeds to projects that preserve, protect and enhance Colorado's wildlife, parks, rivers, trails and open spaces.  Since 1994, GOCO has awarded $489 million for more than 2,200 projects in 64 counties across the state from lottery funds.  Projects in Rio Blanco County have received $1.2 million from GOCO.
 

The USDA’s NRCS provides resources and assists people in conserving, maintaining and improving our natural resources and environment.  NRCS’s “Farmland and Ranchland Protection Program” (FRPP) is a voluntary program that provides funding to help farmers and ranchers protect their lands from conversion to non-agricultural uses.

 

The FRPP program provides matching funds to state or local governments, and to non-profit land conservation organizations – such as Yampa Valley Land Trust – that have active farm and ranch land protection programs in place.   These matching funds are utilized to purchase conservation easements on working agricultural lands.  Since 1996, Colorado has received over $11.4 million in FRPP funds that will protect over 21,000 acres of working agricultural lands around the state.  The program is highly competitive and targets lands that contain soils considered to be of national or statewide significance, are under some threat of conversion to non-agricultural uses and will contribute to the creation of a significant mass of working lands where agriculture can be sustained for the foreseeable future.  Through 2004, the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program helped to conserve more than 415,000 acres of land in 43 states.
 

Yampa Valley Land Trust is a regional, non-profit, land conservation organization serving Northwest Colorado.  Established in 1992, Yampa Valley Land Trust works with willing landowners to conserve the agricultural, natural, scenic and historic landscapes located in Routt, Rio Blanco, Jackson and Moffat Counties.  To date, much of YVLT’s work has focused on Routt County and Rio Blanco County.  Yampa Valley Land Trust now holds 36,385 acres in 52 conservation easements, ensuring the beautiful working landscapes and prime ecological features will continue to be an inspiring part of our lives and the lives of generations to follow.  Through cash donations and contributions, supporters of Yampa Valley Land Trust helped to make these projects and all Yampa Valley Land Trust conservation easement projects possible.