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One-Third of Historic Roberts Ranch Preserved

Model Partnership Safeguards Important Front Range Landscape

Ft. Collins, Colorado—June 10, 2004—A significant portion of the historic Roberts Ranch was placed under a conservation easement by Catherine Roberts through the collaborative efforts of the City of Ft. Collins, Larimer County, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), and The Nature Conservancy. Working in concert, these partner organizations are helping Roberts achieve her goal of preserving this historically, ecologically, and agriculturally important ranch in perpetuity.

Recognizing the significance of preserving this centennial ranch, the partners have worked with the Roberts family for a number of years on a conservation easement that would maintain the economic viability of the ranch while conserving open space and habitat for nature. The Conservation easement leaves the ranch in private ownership. There is no public access.

"The pioneer Roberts family respected and cared for the Northern Larimer county land which they acquired through hard labor," said Catherine Roberts, who has lived on the ranch for over 60 years. "They bequeathed to their heirs the burning desire that it should be kept in its natural state, however with the burden of taxes as the land passes to each generation, the low income produced makes the task of keeping the land undisturbed more and more an impossibility, yet the desire remains to honor the wishes of the bequest."

Roberts stated that, "The incentives of the preservation entities participating in this easement make the inherited goal easier to accomplish. My gratitude for those individuals who have been diligent in solving the various problems involved is boundless."

Mark Sears, Natural Areas Program manager for the City of Fort Collins acknowledged the Roberts’ efforts, "The City appreciates the sacrifices the Roberts have made over the last 100 years to conserve such a large ranch and we are pleased to play a role in conserving the ranching heritage and the incredible habitat and scenic values. Thousands of motorists on Highway 287 enjoy the view of this ranch everyday."

In this current agreement, the partners helped the Roberts family ensure that 4,557 acres of the historic 16,000-acre ranch will remain intact forever—abating the threat of subdivision and development in this rapidly urbanizing Front Range landscape called the "Laramie Foothills."

"All of the organization’s involved in this partnership are indebted to Catherine Roberts for her generosity and vision for preserving her family’s ranching heritage and the wildlife habitat the ranch supports," said Greg Gamble, the Conservancy’s Northeast Colorado Program Manager. "By pooling our efforts and resources this forward-looking partnership was able to help conserve an important Colorado landscape for future generations."

Fragmentation of the landscape by residential development is the greatest threat to the Laramie Foothills which contain the last intact landscape north of Douglas County where native grasslands merge with the mountains of the Front Range. Development would have resulted in the loss of habitat for a wide variety of rare and threatened plant and animal species including the yellow flowering Larimer Aletes and the colorful Iowa darter fish. The landscape is also home to the Golden eagle.

The Roberts Ranch lies at the heart of the Laramie Foothills and has been identified by The Conservancy and other scientists as a priority landscape due to its biological significance. According to Gamble, "The Roberts Ranch contains the ecological essence of the Laramie Foothills conservation area. The Ranch is an important piece of the Laramie Foothills conservation puzzle, and we are all thankful for vision and generosity of Catherine Roberts on behalf of herself and her late husband Evan Roberts."

The Conservancy is very interested in continuing to work with the Roberts family, and the partnership of Larimer County, the City of Fort Collins and GOCO to conserve the remainder of the ranch. The City, the County, and The Conservancy have approached GOCO with a proposal to conserve 70,000 acres of land in the "Laramie Foothills: Mountains to Plains Project." GOCO funding would match project funding from the City, County and TNC, and would build on the success of the City’s recent purchase of the spectacular Soapstone Ranch in the Mountains to Plains Project area in northern Larimer County.

The Conservancy utilizes a detailed, science-based approach to develop conservation priorities and strategies that ensure the protection of the plants, animals and natural communities that make this landscape special.

The Conservancy focuses on "direct action," working to conserve important lands through partnerships with a diverse array of landowners and conservation organizations. Conservation easements are one of the tools employed in rapidly developing areas like the Front Range. A conservation easement is a voluntary, binding agreement that protects habitat, open space, and ranchland by restricting harmful forms of development.