COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Following examples elsewhere in the state, ranchers and conservationists are working to save 200,000 acres of open space between Colorado Springs and Pueblo from urban sprawl.
Rancher Jay Frost is an unlikely member of the group, which calls itself the Peak to Prairie Conservation Initiative. The second-generation rancher just sold development rights to 915 acres along Fountain Creek to the group.
He always knew he would have to sell some land but he is surprised to feel good about it.
“Our family always loved this place, but agriculture can be a tough racket,” Frost, 46, told the Gazette recently while taking a break from mowing hay with his sons. “It would be easy to sell the place. We get offers all the time. This way, we get some of the value while keeping the ranch on the land.”
Landowners get tax breaks, allowing them to stay in business, while development is blocked where conservation easements are in place. Such a buffer already exists in an area between Monument and Castle Rock to the north.
The Nature Conservancy, the national leader in creating conservation easements, is behind the latest initiative, along with Colorado Open Lands. They want to start by blocking development on at least 60,000 acres in the next 10 years.
Undeveloped land controlled by the state and the Army could bring the total to 200,000 acres, reaching over 35 miles from Lincoln County in the east to Cheyenne Mountain State Park in the west.
The Frost Ranch is the key, said Jonathan Moore, director of Colorado Open Lands. Land owners have to be persuaded to sell.
“That’s why getting a respected, long-standing local rancher like Jay Frost to decide we’re OK is pivotal,” Moore said. “Then the neighbors are a little more receptive to us.”
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On the Net:
Colorado Open Lands
The Nature Conservancy
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Information from: The Gazette,
