Press room
Colorado Open Lands in the news
A key part of our work is helping Coloradans understand the benefits of land conservation to their communities and to their values. Towards those ends, we make sure to communicate our land and water conservation successes with local, state, and national press!
For media inquiries, please contact Director of Communications Leslie Volkar at lvolkar@coloradoopenlands.org.
April 2025
Town of Berthoud: Town of Berthoud Acquires Schaal Property to Support Conservation Efforts on the Little Thompson River
Canyon Courier: Groups celebrate preservation of 18-acre property along I-70
Chaffee County Times: Leave it to Beavers: Cross-species collaboration may help restore wetlands
March 2025
Loveland Reporter Herald: Berthoud, Colorado Open Lands looking to conserve two Berthoud farms
Longmont Times-Call: Berthoud, Colorado Open Lands looking to conserve two Berthoud farms
Alamosa Citizen: Rito Seco Park gets 400-acre expansion
Greeley Tribune: Plan unveiled for Greeley’s nearly 1,000-acre Arroyos del Sol natural area
Fort Lupton Press: Great Outdoors Colorado awards grant to Weld County towns
February 2025
Pikes Peak Courier: CPW acquires stunning 120 acres in Park County
CBS Colorado: Colorado Parks and Wildlife acquires 120 acres for new wildlife management area
The Mountain Jackpot News: Governor Polis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife acquire Michigan Creek property in conservation victory
Axios Denver: New State Wildlife Area secured
December 2024
Ski-Hi News: Colorado Headwaters Land Trust to merger with statewide land trust
Real Vail: Edwards River Park: Proposed new home for beloved, vital Family Learning Center
The Pinnacle Gazette: Water Management Crisis Looms Over Western U.S. Farms
Kiowa County Press: Colorado has a new tool for preserving aquifers for farming
Canon City Daily Record: Central Colorado Conservancy announces expansion of the Arkansas River Community Preserve
The Chaffee County Times: Arkansas River Community Preserve expanded by 74 acres
Berthoud Weekly Surveyor: Town board holds final meeting of 2024
YourHub: New holiday shopping guide Features goods and experiences from conserved Colorado Lands
November 2024
Civil Eats: Colorado’s Groundwater Experiment
September 2024
Heart of the Rockies Radio: Ben Lenth sworn in as new water district board member
American Farmland Trust Blog: AFT Releases First-Ever Survey on Agrivoltaics in Colorado
July 2024
Alamosa Citizen: ‘We have a state plan’: RGWCD works to limit any federal study of Rio Grande
The Washington Post: How the nation’s driest state is using cash to free up water
June 2024
C-SPAN: Senate Agriculture Subcommittee Field Hearing on Impact of Drought on Agriculture
Alamosa Citizen: The Valley Pod
May 2024
The Coloradoan: Missed the northern lights? Here are some of the best places to stargaze in Colorado this summer
Heart of the Rockies Radio: Common Ground invests more than $1.6M to support forestes, recreation management and rural landscapes
April 2024
The Denver Post: Family that used to farm Buc-ee’s land has a message about the effects of development
University of Colorado Law Blog:Earth Day 2024: Highlighting The GWC and Water Rights
Fairplay Flume: Colorado Open Lands and Mountain Area Land Trust host local K-12 education workshop
March 2024
Fairplay Flume: Reimagining high alpine riverscapes: Riparian Reconnect is healing Colorado headwaters through a process-based approach
Denver7: Colorado trail projects get biggest funding boost to date from lottery revenue
Kiowa County Press: GOCO board awards grants to southeast Colorado communities
JeffCo Transcript: Jeffco gets over 7 million to fund 3 big county projects
University of Colorado blog: Acequia Assistance project members attend 12th annual Congreso de Acequias
Sterling Journal-Advocate: Colorado Open Lands nets 298k GOCO grant for conservation planning along the South Platte River
February 2024
The Colorado Sun: Farms that feed migrating sandhill cranes in Colorado are in it for the long haul
January 2024
Center for Western Priorities: The private land piece of the 30×30 puzzle
December 2023
GOCO: A Seamless Transition
Land Trust Alliance: Give a boost to conserved land landowners during the holidays
YourHub: Holiday shopping guide highlights goods, experiences from conserved lands in Colorado
Telluride Daily Planet: Sen. Cleave Simpson joins open lands board with Leave No Trace’s Jeff Trujillo
Alamosa News: Sen. Simpson, Trujillo join Colorado Open Lands BOD
Alamosa Citizen: Simpson appointed to Colorado Open Lands board
November 2023
Valley Courier: San Luis Valley Solar and Agriculture Forum
October 2023
Colorado Politics: A 1,200-year-old water concept flows through Colorado’s Costilla County
September 2023
Theodore Roosevelet Conservation Partnership: Emphasizing the Importance of Federal Investment in the Rio Grande Basin
University of Maryland, Baltimore Pulse Podcast: From Rugby Olympian to Environmental Hero: Carmen Farmer’s Mission to Conserve Colorado Lands
August 2023
Source New Mexico: Water conservation model built on the Rio Grande may be a template for rest of US
Denver Post: Colorado nature photographer and environmentalist John Fielder dies
July 2023
Canon City Daily Record: Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp seeks exchange of Federal lands near Hillside
Senator Michael Bennet’s Press Office: Bennet, Moran, Heinrich Introduce Bill to Create New Tool for Farmers and Ranchers to Combat Drought
The Journal: Sens. Bennet, Moran, and Heinrich introduce Voluntary Groundwater Conservation Act
The Fence Post: Bennet, Moran, Heinrich introduce groundwater conservation bill
AgWeb Farm Journal: Ag Water Act Introduced
Wine Industry Network: New Grains Will Change and Sustain the Craft Brewing and Distilling Industries
Sky-Hi News: Land Matters: Month of the beaver
June 2023
Conejos County Citizen: Results of water quality surveys available
BLM Colorado: Partnerships and Restoration Landscapes
Alamosa News: Costilla County ranch $35k grant to conserve more than 1,400 acres
May 2023
National Public Radio: Once ‘paradise,’ parched Colorado valley grapples with arsenic in water
March 2023
Fort Collins Coloradoan: City has a lot of ideas to choose from when it comes to Hughes land, and time to dig into them
9News: US reservoirs moving in right direction but not enough to end long-term drought
Loveland Reporter-Herald: Rooted in tradition: Loveland farm protects its future with conservation easement
Colorado Politics: No need to dress up for this gala
Associated Press: Drought over? Spring outlook finds relief — and flood risk
Alamosa News: Colorado Open Lands awarded $825K grant to conserve 398 acres in the southern San Luis Valley
Circle of Blue: Tax incentives find new purpose for conserving water in American West
January 2023
Pagosa Daily Post: Less Water, More Food? Part 4
December 2022
Conejos County Citizen: Grazing law draws crowd to Costilla County meeting
University of Colorado Law: Acequia Assistance Project Awarded 2022 ABA Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy Award
Alamosa Citizen: Groundwater conservation easement: a new way to manage Rio Grande
Ark Valley Voice: First-in-the-nation conservation easement partnership to protect San Luis Valley groundwater
November 2022
Leadville Twin Lakes: Celebrate a soon-to-be nature preserve on the Arkansas River
The Chaffee County Times: Central Colorado Conservancy secures public river access in Lake County
Bureau of Land Management blog: Spruce Creek rekindles its connection with wetlands in Summit County
The Mountain Ear: Tucker Open Space permanently protected
Boulder Daily Camera: Preservation achieved for Tucker Open Space, near Nederland
Heart of the Rockies Radio: Third Phase of the Arkansas River Community Preserve Underway
Ark Valley Voice: Central Colorado Conservancy announces public preserve purchase in Southern Lake County
October 2022
Rocky Mountain PBS: Watershed assessment presents new opportunities to support Costilla county’s historic waterways
August 2022
Virginia Tech Alumni Magazine: Alumni lead the way in Colorado’s conservation efforts
July 2022
Colorado Public Radio: A 150-year-old San Luis Valley farm stops growing food to save a shrinking water supply. It might be the first deal of its kind in the country
Alamosa News: Drought impacts water rights on Rio Grande
April 2022
Ark Valley Voice: Central Colorado Conservancy celebrates six months of protection progress
North Forty News: Nearly 1,000 acres of future public open space on the Cache la Poudre river purchased
KLZR Valley Views: Interview with Larry Vickerman and Ben Lenth on the future of conservation in the San Isabel area
Saving Land Magazine: Innovative Model for Agricultural Conservation (see page 8)
March 2022
Leadville Herald Democrat: GOCO awards two Lake County Projects
Ark Valley Voice: Lake County nets $652k in GOCO grants to expand Shawn Andrick Memorial Preserve and update Huck Finn Bike Park
Colorado Springs Gazette: Colorado’s iconic sandhill cranes are back for a limited time
January 2022
The Denver Gazette: Douglas County has a water option aside from San Luis Valley
December 2021
Highlands Ranch Herald: Douglas County should take high road on water