Colorado will establish a new state park southwest of Denver, expand an urban park along the South Platte River and preserve more than 100 square miles of shortgrass prairie as a result of the latest round of park funding from lottery players.
The projects, announced Thursday, are among 23 in 16 counties spanning 73,000 acres. The $24 million tab will be picked up by Great Outdoors Colorado, which is funded by lottery proceeds.
The projects bring GOCO’s total preserved area to 643,673 acres. Voters in 1992 created GOCO as an arm of state government, charged with preserving open space and outdoor opportunities amid rapid population growth, using a 50 percent portion of proceeds from the state lottery.
The 23 new projects include new parks, trails, ballfields, swimming pools and conservation easements, which protect land from future development but allow farming or ranching to continue.
Among the projects and grants:
• Staunton State Park, a 3,700-acre parcel off U.S. 285 near Pine, will get $5 million toward opening as a day park in 2012. It will be the 43rd park in the Colorado state system.
• A grant of $1 million will help purchase a 2-acre property along the South Platte River in Denver that, when combined with adjacent parcels, will create an 8-acre park connecting to the South Platte Greenway.
• Sixty-six thousand acres of shortgrass prairie in Cheyenne, Lincoln and Elbert counties will be protected from development through a conservation easement bought with about $2 million. GOCO is working with the Nature Conservancy on the deal with five families to conserve six parcels that were up for sale along Rush Creek and Big Sandy Creek southeast of Denver, GOCO director Lise Aangeenbrug said.
“We need to do all we can” to preserve shortgrass prairie, a fragile ecosystem that provides habitat for deer, antelope, foxes, owls and prairie chickens, said Gov. Bill Ritter. “They can’t survive the conversion of shortgrass prairie to cropland or suburban development.”
GOCO’s directors also announced they had adopted a new strategic plan for future acquisitions focusing on river corridors and urban areas.
Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700 or bfinley@denverpost.com
