Letter from Bruce Goforth
Land Trusts – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Dear Ed,
Thank you for the coverage in the Central Colorado Agenda for the LTUA sponsored book signing of “Saving the Ranch: Conservation Easement Design in the American West” on January 21st. The event was attended by approximately 50 people, including a half dozen ranchers, several of whom are now talking to LTUA about doing conservation easements on their land.
Also, our thanks to the folks at Bongo Billy’s for their support, and to Jeanie at All Booked Up for being our “book seller” and book outlet. Anyone interested in purchasing Saving the Ranch should contact Jeanie at All Booked Up in Salida. (719-539-2344).
Also, as a point of clarification, while LTUA has done a number of small acreage conservation easements which meet our mission goals of preserving open space, scenic beauty, wildlife habitat and agricultural lands, we seek to do conservation easements on ranches of all sizes. We are now working on a ranch of about 100 acres. At the same time, we are working on a ranch that is 3,600 acres in size.
The most important concept to keep in mind about any land trust in doing conservation easements is that these easements are willing partnerships which allow both parties to have their needs met. For the ranchers, they wish to continue ranching, and derive some monetary benefit for not developing their land (something they don’t want to do anyway). For the land trust, the culture, beauty and natural values of the land are preserved. LTUA hopes to enter into more of these partnerships and use “Saving the Ranch” as a sound illustrative tool for this purpose.
Bruce Goforth
Past President &
Land Committee Chair, LTUA
