In March, COL completed a conservation easement on 1,545-acres of the Flying W Ranch, southwest of the City of Gunnison. Twenty years earlier, the owners had protected the other 2,433 acres of the property with The Nature Conservancy, and now protection of the entire property is complete. The ranch contains over two miles of frontage along Willow Creek and is managed for livestock grazing. It provides habitat for Gunnison Sage grouse as well as bald eagle, ferruginous hawk, American peregrine falcon, black bear, elk, moose, mountain lion, mule deer, and northern leopard frog.
The ranch is nearly surrounded by land owned by the Bureau of Land Management which connects with US Forest Service land, meaning that this easement adds to millions of contiguous acres of protected open space! Funding was provided by Natural Resources Conservation Service and Gunnison Valley Land Preservation Fund. Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy was a project partner.