RiGHT conservation efforts continue

SAN LUIS VALLEY — The Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust (RiGHT) has announced the recent protection of an additional 800 acres of working ranches and farms in three conservation easements along the Rio Grande corridor.

Thanks to the vision of the landowners and the commitment of RiGHT, these working lands and their senior water rights in the San Luis Valley are now protected for future generations.

In the last two months, RiGHT protected the Rocky River Ranch west of Del Norte, the Howard Lester Ranch outside of Monte Vista and the Clark Ranch south of Alamosa.

These projects are a continuation of the local land trust’s Rio Grande Initiative, an ambitious effort to protect private land along the river corridor through voluntary, incentive-based conservation easements.

Collectively these ranches contain irrigated fields, wet meadows and prime farmland soils. Their protection helps keep land and water dedicated to agriculture, one of the core pieces of our local economy and the way of life we enjoy here in the Valley. These ranches also protect the cottonwoods and willows along the banks of the Rio Grande, which provide vital habitat for migratory songbirds, raptors, waterfowl and waterbirds, mule deer, elk and many other wildlife species. Equally as important, conservation of these lands protects the scenic views that both residents and visitors treasure here in the San Luis Valley.

Throughout Colorado, land along lakes, rivers and streams makes up less than 3 percent of the landscape, but provides resources for over 75 percent of the state’s wildlife.

This fact highlights the importance of making sure that these areas stay intact for wildlife. On the floor of the San Luis Valley, the majority of the river corridor is private land, making conservation easements an ideal tool to protect this important habitat.

Funding for these projects came from a variety of resources, including lottery-funded Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the Conservation Resource Center and the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife’s San Luis Valley Habitat Partnership Program Committee.

These projects would not be possible without the dedication and generosity of the landowners who are protecting what they love about the San Luis Valley for future generations. “Thanks to their vision and commitment to conservation, we are helping ensure that the San Luis Valley we love today will still be here tomorrow,” commented RiGHT’s Executive Director, Nancy Butler.

While RiGHT works with landowners throughout the entire San Luis Valley, they have a special focus on protecting land and water resources in the Rio Grande corridor through the Rio Grande Initiative. RiGHT began the Initiative in 2007 in partnership with Ducks Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy. At the outset, there were 6,000 acres protected between 1986 and 2006.

Today, with the completion of these projects, along with a portion of the Soward Ranch in Mineral County earlier this year, there are now more than 20,000 acres protected. In less than five years, with a tremendous effort by RiGHT, their partners and the participation by willing landowners, the Rio Grande Initiative has more than tripled the pace of conservation along the Rio Grande in Colorado.

The public is invited to join RiGHT in celebrating these accomplishments at the first annual Headwaters Hoedown on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 18, on a beautiful, conserved ranch near Alamosa.

For more information about RiGHT and the celebration, please visit their website at www.riograndelandtrust.org or call the Del Norte office at 657-0800.