{"id":116122,"date":"2014-12-03T22:49:30","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T05:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/easements-protect-ranches-wildlife\/"},"modified":"2014-12-03T22:49:30","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T05:49:30","slug":"easements-protect-ranches-wildlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/easements-protect-ranches-wildlife\/","title":{"rendered":"Easements protect ranches, wildlife"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Welch property in the La Plata mountains was preserved under a conservation easement.<\/span>Courtesy photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A private inholding within the San Juan National Forest is the latest preservation effort by the Montezuma Land Conservancy.<\/p>\n

In cooperation with landowner Jim Welch, the 240-acre Horse Creek Ranch at the foot of the La Plata Mountains is now in a conservation easement. The deal prevents development of the land and protects its agricultural use in perpetuity.<\/p>\n

The parcel\u2019s convenient access to the Echo Basin Road made it ideal for development under a Colorado law allowing 35-acre subdivisions without planning and zoning review.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe landowner saw development pressure coming, and chose to save the natural character now and into the future,\u201d said MLC director Jon Leibowitz. \u201cLivestock grazing can continue on the property, keeping our agricultural lands in production.\u201d<\/p>\n

The property is an important wetlands and is the headwaters of the Mancos River depended on for municipal water. It is bordered by Horse Creek and Silver Creek and has numerous ponds, wetlands, wildflower glens, and springs.<\/p>\n

The area is rich in wildlife, said Welch, who has owned the property since 2005.<\/p>\n

\u201cBear, deer, elk, turkeys, mountain lions \u2013 they are all here, and now their home is protected, so that feels right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The MLC the property\u2019s proximity to the San Juan Skyway made it a good candidate for a conservation easement.<\/p>\n

\u201cConserving this property protects the views that attract people to come to southwest Colorado,\u201d Leibowitz said. \u201cThe property is highly visible from U.S. 160 and Colorado 184.\u201d<\/p>\n

MLC and landowners have so far protected 4,000 acres along viewshed of the San Juan Skyway, a 236-mile highway loop through regional forests, small towns, and over mountain passes.<\/p>\n

Also in September, MLC closed on a conservation easement for a 640-acre piece of private property in the Groundhog-Glade area, a vast mix of private and public lands north of Dolores.<\/p>\n

Recent subdivisions in the area are fragmenting critical wildlife habitat, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.<\/p>\n

CPW has identified the area as lynx habitat and as critical migration corridor for the Disappointment Valley elk herd.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis easement strikes a balance between working ranches, open space and wildlife habitat,\u201d Leibowitz said. \u201cWe have a long-term goal of protecting as much of that elk migration route as possible in cooperation with landowners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the 85,000 acres in the Groundhog-Glade Program Area, MLC has protected 15,000 acres through conservation easements.<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Development barred from ranch at headwaters of Mancos River<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6363],"tags":[188,13],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-116122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ds-news","tag-dolores-star","tag-frontpage-lead"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116122"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=116122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}