Latest News
Heartland Ranch – Conserved Acres Added!
COL partnered with Southern Plains Land Trust to expand Heartland Ranch by protecting an additional 17,899 acres of shortgrass prairie in Bent County! Southern Plains Land Trust owns and manages the property as a wildlife refuge focused on five priorities: American...
Our Groundwater conservation work featured on National Public Radio!
As the drought in the San Luis Valley continues, Colorado Open Lands has explored creative approaches to help the community maintain viable water levels in its aquifer. One option we are employing is a groundwater conservation easement - applying our primary land...
South Platte wetlands – Permanently Protected!
In March 2022, COL and Westervelt Ecological Services officially closed the Front Range Mitigation Bank conservation easement in Morgan County. This 104-acre parcel lies just east of Fort Morgan and adjacent to I-76, and features a channel of the South Platte River....
Wegert Property – Permanently Protected!
The 122-acre Wegert Property is located in the City of Gunnison and provides an important open-space buffer for adjacent public open space properties that include an active Gunnison Sage-grouse "lek," the term for the area in which animals engage in courtship...
Waggener Farm – Permanently Protected!
COL is pleased to announce the completion of Phase 1 of the Waggener Farm conservation easement in December. The Waggener Farm is located between I-25 and the Town of Berthoud, a fast-growing area with high development pressure. Now this productive farm will forever...
Fresh Tracks – permanently protected!
Colorado Open Lands is thrilled to once again partner with Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT) to add additional protections on the shortgrass prairie of southeast Colorado! SPLT’s mission is to preserve these lands for the native species – both plant and animal – that...
Colorado’s sandhill cranes are back for a limited time!
See more at the link below about how our economic impact study estimates that the Monte Vista Crane Festival brings millions of dollars of tourism impact to the San Luis Valley each year! Unharvested grain on local farms is critical to this stopover in the cranes’...
Flying W Ranch – Permanently Protected!
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...