Colorado Open Lands continues our fruitful partnership with Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT) as we celebrate this new project. The Purgatoire River property consists of 493 acres in Bent County near Las Animas and features shortgrass prairie habitat, a large pond, ¾ of a mile of the Purgatoire River (a tributary of the Arkansas), and associated floodplains. These varied habitats provide food, shelter, breeding ground, and migration corridors for a variety of wildlife species, including the following which are designated Species of Greatest Conservation Need by the State of Colorado: black-tailed prairie dog, swift fox, burrowing owl, golden eagle, ferruginous hawk, Cassin’s sparrow, lark bunting, loggerhead shrike, long-billed curlew, northern harrier, prairie falcon, plains leopard frog, and Texas horned lizard. The Boggsville Historic Site is adjacent to the property.
SPLT intends to allow future public access to the property for education and recreational purposes. They also intend to engage in restoring native vegetation to enhance the education value of the site.
GOCO was a project partner. Photo by Richard Reading.