Conservation easement preserves 211 acres of Chaffee County ranch

By Jessica Wierzbinski - Mail Staff Writer

The most recent conservation easement secured by lottery money in Chaffee County is 211 acres of the Hutchinson Ranch.

"We intend to continue this in phases," said Art Hutchinson, son of Dr. Wendell Hutchinson who owns the historic homestead.

He said the family intends to put the majority of the ranch between Salida and Poncha Springs into conservation easements through coming years if perceived benefits to the family and community remain stable.

Great Outdoors Colorado board members recently awarded $853,200 in lottery money to the Trust for Public Land to purchase the conservation easement, which accounts for more than a quarter of about 700 acres that make up the ranch.

In a press release, Great Outdoors Colorado officials said the Hutchinson ranch easement is "part of a larger effort to protect land at the foot of Colorado's (Sawatch) Mountain Range, with the ultimate goal of preserving 10,000 acres throughout the Upper Arkansas Valley."

Hutchinson said terms of the easement enable the family to continue ranching the land and preclude subdivision of the property. Terms were negotiated through the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust.

The cattlemen's trust endeavors to protect agricultural land by working with ranchers and farmers to preserve Colorado's ranching heritage.

Hutchinson said, "The concept here is to keep the ranch as intact as possible for future generations, although whether or not it's profitable is yet to be determined."

"One hundred and forty years ago, my grandfather had a dream there," Hutchinson explained. He said the family wants to preserve that dream and "pass it on" to their heirs.

The grandfather to whom Hutchinson referred was English-born settler and cattleman Joseph S. Hutchinson. The ranch has been in continuous operation by family members since the 1860s.

Running more cattle than anyone else in the southern Arkansas River Valley, Joseph S. Hutchinson was one of the cattle kings in early Colorado. He made major contributions to the livestock industry.

The ranch is a representation of the full range of buildings and structures of an operating cattle ranch during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The original homestead house and its outbuildings were donated to the Town of Poncha Springs in 2006 as a historic attraction, but Art Hutchinson said the family continues working the ranch.

In addition to the family benefit of preserving its agricultural legacy, Hutchinson said a conservation easement can be a great benefit to the larger community.

"If every place looked like Highlands Ranch up in Denver, what's left of Colorado?"

He said easements also help protect local tourism by preventing "loss of romance" associated with "industrial parks and urban sprawl."

Great Outdoors Colorado is the result of a citizens' initiative passed by 58 percent of voters in 1992. It receives about half of Colorado Lottery proceeds - $56.4 million in fiscal 2010.

Outdoors Colorado awards grants to local governments and land trusts, and makes investments through the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Colorado State Parks.

Statewide since 1994, more than 3,100 projects have received lottery financing through the organization. Projects in Chaffee County have been awarded $5.7 million in grants during the past 16 years.