The Nature Conservancy in Colorado - Agreement Protects Wildlife, Ranchlands and Views Along Yampa River

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Christine Broda-Bahm
Phone: (720) 974-7002
Cell: (303) 910-5427
Email: cbrodabahm@tnc.org

Agreement Protects Wildlife, Ranchlands and Views Along Yampa River

Grants Support Conservation Vision in the Yampa Valley

Steamboat Springs, CO—June 16, 2005—On Thursday, as The Nature Conservancy was completing the first of two important conservation easements in the Yampa Valley, it received word from the Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) Board that it had just been awarded another $750,000 in lottery funds to work toward completion of the second easement in this ecologically significant area.

Thursday’s Closing
The Conservancy worked closely with the landowner and partners to complete protection of 1280 acres of important ranchland and high quality wildlife habitat by placing a conservation easement on a portion of the Wolf Mountain Ranch. The easement protects a unique midchannel island, known as Elk Island, and a scenic sagebrush ridge across the Yampa River from the Conservancy’s historic Carpenter Ranch. These lands are located on the upstream end of the Morgan Bottoms reach of the Yampa River, where a total of 3100 acres of privately owned riverside lands have been conserved since 1985.

The Yampa Valley has been identified by The Conservancy and other scientists as a biologically rich landscape. The Yampa River is one of the last relatively free-flowing river systems in the Colorado River Basin, supporting an extensive riparian system of cottonwood forests, willow lined oxbows and cattail marshes. The land is also home to a high number of breeding bald eagles and provides a staging area of statewide significance for hundreds of Sandhill cranes each spring and fall. The sage and oak covered hills rolling away from the river support the only remaining population of Columbian sharp-tailed grouse in Colorado, as well as wintering habitat for the second largest elk herd in the state.

"The commitment to conserve this 1280 acre portion of Wolf Mountain Ranch through a conservation easement leaves a wonderful legacy for the Yampa Valley," said Ann Oliver, Yampa River Project Director for The Nature Conservancy. "These lands not only maintain a dynamic river and rich wildlife habitat, but also support a way of life for people. This conservation agreement compliments our community’s land conservation successes over the last 15 years."

The protection of this portion of Wolf Mountain Ranch was only possible through the collaboration of numerous partners and the leveraging of funds from many sources. In addition to GOCO, the Routt County Purchase of Development Rights Program generously contributed $250,000 in funding on the public side. The Colorado Conservation Trust as well as many members of the Yampa Valley community contributed crucial private funding, all of which helped match and leverage the landowner’s contribution and commitment to the protection of these lands.

"The conservation of this vital landscape would not have been possible without the vision and dedication of community members and partners who recognized the urgency of protecting these lands for future generations," said Charles Bedford, the Conservancy’s Colorado State Director.

Additional GOCO/Lottery Funds
At its Board meeting earlier this week, the GOCO Board awarded the Conservancy an additional $750,000 in lottery funds to continue its work on the Wolf Mountain Project. These funds will be used by the Conservancy to place a conservation easement on an additional 500 acres of the Ranch. Completion of this phase of the project will conserve approximately 2.5 miles of the Yampa River along 365 acres of riparian bottomland, as well as 135 acres of upland sagebrush and oak shrubland habitat. This brings GOCO’s contribution to the overall project to $1.8 million, and the total wildlife habitat and ranchland conserved on Wolf Mountain Ranch to 1781 acres, stretching from the river’s edge to the ridge above.

Fragmentation of the rural landscape for residential development, together with soaring land values, is one of the greatest challenges facing wildlife populations and agriculture in the Yampa Valley. Subdivision and development of these lands would have resulted in the loss of quality habitat for a variety of plant communities and animal species including over 90 bird species nesting in riverside cottonwood forests, bald eagles, sandhill cranes, northern leopard frogs, sagebrush communities, greater sage grouse and Columbian sharp-tailed grouse.

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. Conservation easements are one of the tools employed in rapidly developing areas like the Yampa Valley. A conservation easement is a voluntary, binding agreement with a private landowner that protects habitat for plants and animals while maintaining rural landscapes and working ranchlands by restricting development.