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

23,300-acre Smith Ranch Conserved

Living Legacy to Colorado Ranching, Prairie Heritage

Lincoln County, Colorado — March 23, 2007 — Today a ranching gem in Lincoln County was protected as a living legacy to Colorado’s ranching and prairie heritage. The Nature Conservancy purchased a 23,300- acre parcel that will be transferred to the State Land Board, creating a 49,061-acre working cattle ranch in conjunction with their existing, adjacent holdings.

Counties throughout the country which were once considered rural forever are confronting “ex-urban” development and the increases in needs and services that wildcat subdivision growth engenders. The protection of the nearly 50,000-acre landscape will ensure that the character of Lincoln County, its quiet starry nights and wide open spaces, will prevail. 

In addition to providing forage for cattle the area also provides habitat for key species of Colorado’s prairie – including pronghorn, the Swift fox, and a host of grassland birds including the mountain plover, burrowing owl and Cassin’s sparrow. Members of the recently formed Centeral Shortgrass Prairie Partnership are also excited that the project will help conserve hundreds of playa lakes which are critical for migratory birds, particularly waterfowl, and are home to the Plains Leopard frog. The ranch’s streams are excellent habitat for the tiny Arkansas Darter fish (a remnant of the Ice Age). 

“The conservation of the Smith Ranch provides significant opportunities to conserve this prairie gem teeming with at least 218 playas” said Mike Carter, Coordinator of the Playa Lakes Joint Venture. Playa lakes may be the most important wetland habitat type for waterfowl in the region hosting up to 20 species during winter and migration season.

“The State Land Board is proud of this opportunity to demonstrate how ranching and conservation can work together for future generations,” said Britt Weygandt, Director of the Colorado State Land Board. The Colorado State Land Board, The Nature Conservancy, NRCS and other experts and local stakeholders will work together to create a management plan for the working ranch to co-exist with ways to showcase Lincoln County as recreation and wildlife destination. 

Within two years, The Nature Conservancy will place an easement on the 23,300 acre property – preventing all future development.

The Nature Conservancy intends to hold the lease from the State Land Board and sublease the agricultural management to a ranching family.  Ranching operations will be run according to a management plan which will be developed jointly by The State Land Board and The Nature Conservancy and a representative from the agricultural community, such as a local rancher, with assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and others.  The nearby Bohart Ranch is a model that works with a similar framework and has been a successful cow/calf operation.  The Bohart Ranch easily made the switch from private ownership to public ownership and is now under management by a local ranching family.   

The Nature Conservancy and the State Land Board look forward to meeting their new neighbors and are planning open houses at the Bohart and Smith Ranch this summer. A public meeting on the project will be held at the Lincoln County Commisioners’ Offices in Hugo at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 30th.  Representatives from both the State Land Board and The Nature Conservancy will be on hand to describe the project and address questions.

“I am deeply grateful to the many local ranching families who have worked and treasured the prairie.  As a result of their hard work we have one of the most intact regions of prairie on the Western High Plains where conservation and ranching objectives are compatible,” said Frogard Ryan, Chico Basin Project Director for The Nature Conservancy, continuing, “I look forward to learning from neighbors and residents about the area and exploring collaborative opportunities that will benefit the community, ranching and nature.”

The Smith Ranch is the Eastern anchor in the Peak to Prairie project, an ambitious effort being undertaken by Colorado Open Lands and The Nature Conservancy, with support and participation of numerous local and state agencies and organizations, to conserve and link a landscape stretching from Cheyenne Mountain across the plains of eastern Colorado.  The vision is to conserve this large intact prairie landscape, maintain military and agricultural uses and keep historic ranches intact while also conserving critical plant and animal habitat and providing extensive opportunities for recreational access.

The Smith Ranch Project was made possible through the efforts of numerous members of the Shortgrass Prairie Partnership, including the State Land Board, The Nature Conservancy, Playa Lakes Joint Venture, the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, NRCS, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, among others.  The Prairie Partnership provides landowners and managers, public agencies and private organizations the opportunity to collaboratively work together to ensure the long-term viability of native species and ecosystems of the Shortgrass Prairie while promoting the continued existence of economically productive landscapes that sustain local communities.  The Shortgrass Prairie Partnership is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Department of Defense Legacy Resource Program and the concerted efforts of all its members.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.