None The Nature Conservancy in Colorado Press Releases Search All Press Releases Christine Broda-Bahm Phone: (720) 974-7002 Cell: (303) 910-5427 Email: cbrodabahm@tnc.org

GOCO Awards $11.6 Million to Laramie Foothills: Mountains to Plains

Project Aims to Protect 55,400 Acres North of Fort Collins

Fort Collins, Colorado—December 1, 2004—The Board of Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) today awarded an $11.6 million lottery grant to the Laramie Foothills: Mountains to Plains project sponsored by Larimer County, the City of Fort Collins, The Nature Conservancy and Legacy Land Trust. The Laramie Foothills: Mountains to Plains project will protect 55,400 contiguous acres north of Fort Collins. With matching local funds of $13.7 million, the total project cost is just over $25 million.

GOCO, funded by the Colorado lottery, distributed over $60 million to 18 large-scale projects of statewide significance. This GOCO grant for the Laramie Foothills: Mountains to Plains project is the largest-ever grant made to a conservation project in Larimer County. Kathay Rennels, Chair of the Larimer County Board of Commissioners says the project is unique, “We believe the rest of Colorado will agree with the GOCO Board that this is the last and best place along the Front Range to accomplish large-scale ecosystem conservation. Larimer County and northern Colorado are thankful to the GOCO Board in recognizing the significance of this project.”

The Laramie Foothills: Mountains to Plains project is a magnificent conservation opportunity say partners. With the help of GOCO, the local partners will conserve an area rich in ecological, cultural, agricultural, archeological, and recreational resources that are of statewide and, in some cases, national significance. “Preserving the transition from the mountains to the plains represents a major victory for conservation in Colorado,” said Greg Gamble, northeast Colorado program manager at The Nature Conservancy. “Not only are we maintaining one of the last connections between the mountains and plains for animal migration, but we are also conserving important grasslands, one of Colorado’s most threatened landscapes.”

The project partners and nine landowners will contribute $13.7 million and engage in a series of 15 transactions to protect the land. The average cost per acre is $425. K-Lynn Cameron, Larimer County Open Lands Manager, says the time was right, “With land prices along the Front Range always on the rise, this was an opportunity not to be missed. We are pleased to have the cooperation and support of the landowners to preserve this land for future generations.”

The City of Fort Collins took the first step toward protection of the Laramie Foothills: Mountains to Plains project earlier this year with the purchase of the 12,579-acre Soapstone Ranch. With the ranch on the market, the City was able to move forward quickly with the purchase when the 20 landowners of the ranch came to consensus on a purchase price. That initial step was integral to moving the Laramie Foothills: Mountains to Plains project forward. City of Fort Collins Natural Resources Department Director, John Stokes notes that: “The City hoped that its purchase of the Soapstone Ranch would help bring the partnership together and make a larger project possible. Our hopes are now being made possible by the generous GOCO grant and the action of our local partners.” 

Development pressure along the Front Range adds to the urgency. Other parcels within the project also are on the market.  If the GOCO grant was not secured in its entirety, the Laramie Foothills: Mountain to Plains project would have failed. “In my mind, the Laramie Foothills: Mountains to Plains project exemplifies the very best in conservation partnerships,” said Charles Bedford, Colorado state director of The Nature Conservancy. “Mountains to Plains is a success due to the vision and support of an amazing collective who banded together to save a magnificent landscape. The Nature Conservancy extends its gratitude to 1st Bank of Northern Colorado and First National Bank and seven families in the community who generously contributed more than $800,000 to this conservation project. Their dedication will result in a lasting legacy for Colorado." 

Larimer County contributed $2.6 million in Open Lands funds, Fort Collins $8.35 million, The Nature Conservancy $550,000, Legacy Land Trust worked with land owners who in total donated $1.9 million. Another $276,000 came from a Farmland Protection Program grant.