Sidebar by Marcia Darnell
Nature Conservancy – July 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine
Ownership isn’t always practical. Sometimes holding land can tie up resources better spent elsewhere. For that reason, the Nature Conservancy takes several avenues to preserving land and rare species.
The Conservancy sometimes acquires conservation easements on land to protect the flora and fauna. The organization also sells land to the BLM.
Members occasionally bequeath land to the Conservancy. If the gift isn’t considered a “high priority” area, it may be sold and the proceeds used for an area more in need of preservation.
When the Nature Conservancy is offered land which it cannot buy, the organization sometimes finds “conservation buyers,” private parties who will treat the land and species with respect.
The Conservancy annually recognizes private land owners who have developed their own ways of preserving and protecting land, plants and animals.
The Nature Conservancy’s Colorado Program has been preserving land in the Centennial State since 1965. Conservancy holdings include Phantom Canyon and the Mueller Ranch in the east to alpine rivers and lakes on the Western Slope.
For more information on the Nature Conservancy and its Colorado program, write 1244 Pine St., Boulder, CO 80304, or call 303-444-2950.
