SOAR-ing to New Heights

The SOAR Colorado initiative brings together many interests to conserve intact landscapes that support the continuation of agricultural operations and strong rural communities. This will also protect priority open space and ecological and cultural resources, improving both ecosystem and community resilience. For example, the initiative will support efforts to lower wildfire risk, help mitigate the impacts of climate change, and support the continuation of military operations that provide for national security and the region’s economic and cultural vibrancy.

Steps to Conserve Bohart Ranch

For the first SOAR Colorado project, the partners acquired approximately 11,900 acres of the historic Bohart Ranch from the State Land Board. The airspace over the ranch offers flight training areas for the U.S. Air Force Academy—including a remote runway and open skies—at a time when development is encroaching on training zones as the region’s population grows.

The ranch’s shortgrass and sandsage prairies support over 200 plant species, 40 species of native mammals, and numerous declining grassland bird species. The acquisition of nearly 19 square miles of the ranch is the first phase of the Bohart Ranch project. Eventually, the Bohart Ranch project will result in the acquisition of the entire property and permanent conservation of the entire 75-square mile ranch.

The State Land Board only sells land when it is clear that the reinvestment of the proceeds can provide a greater benefit to the trusts they manage on behalf of schools. In July 2023, the State Land Board Commissioners voted unanimously to make the Bohart Ranch available to a conservation-focused buyer, supporting their financial mission while protecting the land’s ecological and agricultural values, as well as airspace above it.

Conservation is not unheard of at Bohart Ranch. TNC has held a lease on the property since 1998 to sustainably manage the property’s prairies and diverse wildlife. TNC, in turn, subleases the ranch to a multi-generational ranching family known for their stewardship of the land.

Partnership Aiming for New Heights

Part of the funding for the SOAR Colorado Initiative comes from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program. For more than 20 years, REPI has supported significant nature and community conservation efforts across the country, including here in Colorado. 

The larger SOAR Colorado effort aims to protect nearly 80,000 acres (125 square miles) of land in the region over the next 5-10 years through purchasing and permanently conserving a subset of State Land Board properties. 

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to work together to strengthen and permanently protect our nation’s military resilience and readiness in southern Colorado while also achieving critical conservation,” says Rebecca Jewett, president and CEO of Palmer Land Conservancy. 

In addition to the conservation organizations, this initiative is supported by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Space Force, and U.S. Army, together with Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), Colorado State Land Board, and the Defense Mission Task Force (DMTF). 

All the lands that will be protected through SOAR Colorado are within the bounds of the Southern High Plains, an area identified as a priority by TNC for its biodiversity and conservation potential. The remaining areas of shortgrass prairie around Colorado Springs are under pressure from encroaching development and are a high priority for conservation.

Funds from the Department of Defense’s REPI program have supported conservation projects in other areas of the country, but rarely at this scale. TNC projects in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, Florida’s Everglades watershed, and Georgia’s Altamaha River have benefitted from the REPI program and military partnerships. In Colorado, working with TNC and TPL respectively, Fort Carson and Buckley Air Force Base have both successfully used the REPI program.

“You know you’re onto something when a project emerges that conserves important wildlife habitat and open space, supports agricultural production, provides much-need funds for public education and enhances national security and military readiness,” explains Jim Petterson, Mountain West Region vice president for Trust for Public Land.

With the first phase of the Bohart Ranch acquired, the conservation partners are forging ahead on the next steps in the initiative. Efforts are underway to protect land around the Schriever Space Force Base to the southeast of Colorado Springs and two properties on the west side of Fort Carson Army Base, west of Colorado State Highway 115.