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

Centerpiece of Laramie Foothills: Mountains to Plains Project Acquired

Fort Collins, Colorado—December 30, 2004—The Nature Conservancy and the Larimer County Open Lands Program acquired the Red Mountain Ranch, the centerpiece of the Laramie Foothills/Mountains to Plains Project. The 13,500 acres of the ranch that lie in Colorado were purchased with $7.8 million in lottery funds from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) and $1.4 million from Larimer County’s 1/4% Help Preserve Open Spaces sales tax fund. The Nature Conservancy purchased over 1,500 acres that lie in Wyoming.

 “Purchase of the Red Mountain Ranch was urgent and key to the entire vision of this ambitious effort to protect a total of 55,400 acres,” said John Swartout, GOCO executive director. “This project is a great example of the landscape scale protection the GOCO Board intended with its recent Legacy grants.”  The $7.8 million is part of an $11.6 million Legacy grant the GOCO Board awarded to the project on December 1.

"The highlight of the Mountains to Plains project has been the leadership of Larimer County and Great Outdoors Colorado, without which The Nature Conservancy and the other partners wouldn't have been able to conserve these special natural areas connecting the Rocky Mountains to the Great Plains, " said Greg Gamble, Northeast Colorado Program Manager for The Nature Conservancy.

Currently, the County's plans for the land include trading a portion of eased Red Mountain Ranch lands for equally valued conservation easements on an adjacent ranch. This will create a larger land protection area that will continue to be privately owned by a local rancher. Larimer County will retain the northern portion of Red Mountain Ranch, known as the “Big Hole”, for wildlife protection and recreational use.  Eventually 6 to 10 miles of trail will be developed in the area, creating an estimated 30-mile trail network when connected to trails at Fort Collins's Soapstone Ranch.  

"This is a tremendous conservation opportunity, and I am pleased that the City and the County could come to the table to make this happen," said Craig Harrison, broker for Harrison Resource Corporation and representative for the Soapstone and Red Mountain ranches. With these acquisitions, the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains partnership has already protected over half of the 55,400 acres.

Red Mountain Ranch is home to nesting golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, prairie falcons, mountain lions, black-tailed prairie dogs, elk, and mule-deer.  The ranch also contains several imperiled plant communities.

Land Not Yet Open to the Public-Public Urged To Allow Implementation of Management Plan

Larimer County will begin implementing its management planning process in 2005, with a final plan to be adopted in the winter of 2007. Red Mountain Ranch will not be open to the public until the management plan is complete, and trails and trailheads are built--anticipated to be early 2009. 

"We intend to develop our Management Plan jointly with the City of Fort Collins for Red Mountain and Soapstone ranches," said K-Lynn Cameron, Larimer County Open Lands Manager. "We must take our time and do a thorough job. Because of the sheer size of these properties -- 26,000 acres combined -- it will take longer than usual."

Until that time Red Mountain Ranch will be kept in agricultural use through continued grazing. The Larimer County Open Lands Program will offer guided public tours to the property starting in summer 2005. Cameron urges interested members of the public to sign up for one of these tours. Information will be posted on the County's website at www.larimer.org/parks under "Upcoming Events". 

The Laramie Foothills/Mountains to Plains Project is sponsored by Larimer County, the City of Fort Collins, The Nature Conservancy and the Legacy Land Trust. It will protect 55,400 acres north of Fort Collins creating a mountain to plains conservation zone of approximately 140,000 acres. The 30 miles of trail that will be constructed is an area that has previously been inaccessible to the public.