Easement to

preserve

Rio Oxbow

Ranch area



STAFF REPORT

SAN LUIS VALLEY — The Colorado Conservation Partnership (CCP) has awarded grants to five Colorado land trust organizations including the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust in the San Luis Valley.

The grants total $2 million and are part of the funding CCP received from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to help implement the on-the-ground wildlife conservation projects that Colorado and four other western states identified as priorities in their plans.

The grant recipients are land conservation projects who advance the goals and objectives of the Colorado State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP).

The grant awarded the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust will help provide a conservation easement to permanently protect six miles of the Rio Grande along the 1,100-acre Rio Oxbow Ranch. The Rio Oxbow’s forested uplands, broad irrigated meadows, and extensive river corridor, ponds and wetlands provide critical habitat for the endangered lynx, as well as high quantity and quality of habitat for two other high-priority endangered species, the boreal toad and the bald Eagle, along with important fisheries and big game habitat.

The CCP comprises five of Colorado’s leading conservation organizations - Colorado Conservation Trust, Colorado Open Lands, The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land - that have united to pursue the greatest possible conservation impact for Colorado and create a bold plan to preserve 24 high-priority landscapes.

“The five CCP organizations are committed to finding and making available private financial resources that can be used to match public resources for conservation projects in each of these 24 landscapes, said CCP spokesperson Chris Herrman. “We are pleased to make these awards, as we begin work on our far-reaching conservation vision to preserve Colorado’s iconic landscapes for the decades to come.”

In an April 2008 event featuring Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, CCP rolled out its ambitious “Keep It Colorado” plan to preserve 24 priority landscapes across Colorado encompassing over 700,000 acres. As a result of CCP’s collaboration with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation of New York granted $2 million to protect high priority wildlife habitats within the 24 landscapes. Grant recipients were chosen based on the impact of their projects to support wildlife conservation values within these high priority landscapes.

The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.