Sidebar by Ed Quillen
Land Use – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas (LTUA), which works in Lake, Chaffee, and Frémont counties, will turn four this year, and it now holds 12 conservation easements that cover about 800 acres.
A conservation easement is in some respects like other easements. A utility company, for instance, might purchase an easement from a property owner so it can run a power line across the property.
The difference with a conservation easement is that instead of allowing something to be built, it prevents something from being built — that is, nothing can be constructed on the property covered by the easement. And the easement is held, not by a utility company or the like, but by a non-profit corporation established just for that purpose.
The LTUA is one of those non-profits, and so far, it has specialized in protecting game habitat from development.
“One of our first goals,” explained President Bruce Goforth of Salida, “is to protect the elk migration corridor north of Buena Vista, so that the animals can move from summer to winter range and back.”
To that end, the LTUA has acquired conservation easements around the Heckendorf State Wildlife Area (west of U.S. 24 along Four Elk Creek), effectively doubling the pasturage available there, and is working on easements to the south along a migration route.
There has been considerable development in that area, “and without the conservation easements, we could lose a big elk herd,” Goforth said.
It can be a slow process, “since every easement is a custom legal agreement with the landowner,” he said, and on that account, “some of the bigger conservancies and trusts would not be interested in the land we work with — small parcels of 40 or 80 acres that take just as much work as 1,000 acres. We specialize in the smaller tracts that fit in with what we’re doing, trying to preserve the habitat, vistas, and other things that make this area special.”
Membership in the LTUA costs $25 a year, and provides a monthly newsletter as well as a chance to go on the annual inspection tour, where the LTUA checks to see if landowners have been abiding by the terms of their easements.
For more information, there’s a website at www.ltua.org and a mailing address at P.O. Box 942, Salida CO 81201. Also, Gorforth can be reached in the evenings at 719-539-4814.
