In September 2008, The Conservation Fund, Colorado State Forest Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) and the owners of the Catspaw Ranch in Archuleta County announced the protection of 8,690 acres through a Forest Legacy Program conservation easement, an agreement that permanently restricts the type and amount of development on the landowner’s property.
“The Catspaw Forest Legacy project demonstrates how all of us working together can protect environmentally sensitive forest lands. Thanks to the willingness of the Catspaw Ranch owners, this conservation easement, established adjacent to the San Juan National Forest and in the Navajo River watershed, will in perpetuity protect a significant piece of forest land from development, thus helping to preserve valuable water, wildlife habitat and vegetative resources.”
This easement complements other ongoing conservation efforts in the Navajo River watershed, the system of lands and waters linked to the river. The Navajo River, one of Colorado’s most wild and remote rivers, rises in the rugged South San Juan Wilderness in the area south of Wolf Creek Pass. The Colorado Conservation Partnership (CCP), a coalition of five of Colorado’s leading conservation organizations including The Conservation Fund, identified this area as a high conservation priority because it borders existing protected lands and is one of the few remaining intact and pristine areas in the state.
The Conservation Fund helped facilitate the Catspaw Ranch easement and has been involved in the conservation of lands within Navajo River watershed since 2000, protecting nearly 20,000 acres. Over the years, GOCO provided critical funding for these efforts, contributing nearly $5 million in lottery funds to place conservation easements on working ranches.
The Forest Legacy Program is a federally-funded program of the U.S. Forest Service that partners with states to support and protect environmentally sensitive forest lands. To maximize public benefits, the program focuses on the acquisition of portions of privately owned forest lands. It accomplishes this by purchasing conservation easements without removing the property from private ownership. Most of the easements restrict development, require sustainable forestry practices and protect other values at risk. Forest Legacy projects compete nationally for funding and are required to have matching funds in place. GOCO provided matching funds for the Catspaw Ranch easement.
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