September 24, 2008
Contact:
Vanessa Vaughan, The Conservation Fund, 703.908.5809
Boulder, Colorado — Today, The Conservation Fund, Colorado State Forest Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) and the owners of the Catspaw Ranch in Archuleta County announced the protection of 8,690 acres through a Forest Legacy Program conservation easement, an agreement that permanently restricts the type and amount of development on the landowner’s property.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to conserve this important piece of forest land on the Navajo River for present and future generations,” said Joe Duda, forest management division supervisor for Colorado State Forest Service, an agency at Colorado State University. “Intact forest land such as that found on the Catspaw Ranch supplies timber products and provides important wildlife habitat, soil and watershed protection, and aesthetics, so it’s imperative that we work with landowners to conserve these lands.”
This easement complements other ongoing conservation efforts in the Navajo River watershed, the system of lands and waters linked to the river. The Navajo River, one of Colorado’s most wild and remote rivers, rises in the rugged South San Juan Wilderness in the area south of Wolf Creek Pass. The Colorado Conservation Partnership (CCP), a coalition of five of Colorado’s leading conservation organizations including The Conservation Fund, identified this area as a high conservation priority because it borders existing protected lands and is one of the few remaining intact and pristine areas in the state.
The Conservation Fund helped facilitate the Catspaw Ranch easement and has been involved in the conservation of lands within Navajo River watershed since 2000, protecting nearly 20,000 acres. Over the years, GOCO provided critical funding for these efforts, contributing nearly $5 million in lottery funds to place conservation easements on working ranches.
“Protecting this gem hidden in the wilderness of Colorado provides numerous environmental benefits, but it also preserves the culture and heritage of family-owned ranches in Colorado,” said Sydney Macy, Colorado director of The Conservation Fund. “We thank the owners of the Catspaw Ranch, the Colorado State Forest Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Great Outdoors Colorado and our supporters in Congress – Senator Ken Salazar, Senator Wayne Allard and Representative John Salazar – for recognizing the value of this property and its role in the overall protection of the Navajo River watershed.”
“This milestone is the result of local communities, stakeholders and individual landowners working together to preserve one of Colorado’s signature landscapes for the benefit of generations to come,” said Senator Salazar. “I commend the owners of Catspaw Ranch, The Colorado State Forest Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Great Outdoors Colorado and The Conservation Fund for their efforts to protect the water and wildlife habitat offered by these pristine forest lands in a manner that preserves the ranching heritage of Southwest Colorado.”
“By working with willing property owners, the public, conservation groups and local government to find mutually beneficial ways to conserve land; this effort shows how the government can succeed when preserving sensitive areas,” said Senator Allard.
The Forest Legacy Program is a federally-funded program of the U.S. Forest Service that partners with states to support and protect environmentally sensitive forest lands. To maximize public benefits, the program focuses on the acquisition of portions of privately owned forest lands. It accomplishes this by purchasing conservation easements without removing the property from private ownership. Most of the easements restrict development, require sustainable forestry practices and protect other values at risk. Forest Legacy projects compete nationally for funding and are required to have matching funds in place. GOCO provided matching funds for the Catspaw Ranch easement.
“The Catspaw Forest Legacy project demonstrates how all of us working together can protect environmentally sensitive forest lands,” said Rick Cables, the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Regional Forester. “Thanks to the willingness of the Catspaw Ranch owners, this conservation easement, established adjacent to the San Juan National Forest and in the Navajo River watershed, will in perpetuity protect a significant piece of forest land from development, thus helping to preserve valuable water, wildlife habitat and vegetative resources.”
Unique in approach and scale, the CCP leverages the diverse missions, resources and collective expertise of five of Colorado’s leading conservation organizations – the Colorado Conservation Trust, Colorado Open Lands, The Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land and The Conservation Fund – to pursue the greatest possible conservation impact in the coming decade. Side by side with local partners, CCP is combining strengths and core competencies to achieve a focused, strategic and collaborative land and water conservation vision for all of Colorado. The Navajo River watershed is one of 24 priority landscapes in Colorado identified by the CCP.
Get off to a good start this new year. Make a gift today -- and help provide an outdoor legacy for our children.
Powered by: Phase2 TechnologyThe Conservation Fund National Office
1655 N. Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1300
Arlington, Virginia 22209-2156
Phone: 703-525-6300
Fax: 703-525-4610
Email: postmaster@conservationfund.org
