Restoration in progress, Down Valley Park, San Miguel County

"There can be no purpose more inspiring than to begin the age of restoration, reweaving the wondrous diversity of life that still surrounds us."
E.O. Wilson

Looking Back at 2003...

• TLR Strategy Aids Summit County Land Purchase
• U.S. Forest Service Expands Howard Fork Project
• Easement Protects Gunnison Sage Grouse Habitat
• Ouray County and TLR Advance Innovative Brownfield Proposal
   

Details to follow… but first:

Linda Luther, Director of Parks and Open Space for San Miguel County, contacted TLR in early 2002 to ask for help. After years of negotiation, the County had purchased a 20-acre property along the banks of the San Miguel River, twelve miles downstream of Telluride. The property, once a gravel pit, was to be turned into a new county park with mixed use: ball fields on one end, natural area pond, wetlands and riverside riparian area on the other. The County had applied for $150,000 from the State of Colorado Resource Damage Funds to help restore the site. Now the State was asking for a third party to take a conservation easement to assure that the natural area would, indeed, be restored as planned, and remain as such… forever.

Then came the call to TLR. Could we structure and hold a conservation easement that would satisfy the State and San Miguel County? The answer was yes, and last summer the heavy equipment rolled, with great results.

In the parlance of contaminated property transactions, TLR’s easement on the Down Valley Park represents a form of institutional control placed to see that the properties’ conservation values are maintained in perpetuity.

The Details...

TLR Strategy Aids Summit County Land Purchase
U.S. Forest Service Expands Howard Fork Project
Easement Protects Gunnison Sage Grouse Habitat
Ouray County and TLR Advance Innovative Brownfield Proposal

Trust for Land Restoration Supporters
Gifts, grants, and in-kind contributions as of 12/31/03

Individuals:

Organizations:

Conservation Impact, Denver, CO
Davis, Graham and Stubbs LLP, Denver, CO
EnviroGroup Limited, Englewood, CO
Environmental Support Center, Washington, DC
Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund, Denver, CO
Holland and Hart LLP, Denver, CO
Middleton and Richards LLC CPA, Ridgway, CO
Ouray County, CO
The Richard and Joan Ringoen Family Foundation, Boulder, CO
Ridgway-Ouray Community Council, Ridgway, CO
San Miguel Watershed Coalition, Telluride, CO
San Miguel County, CO
Town of Ophir, CO
Trust for Public Lands, Denver, CO
WebDesign Farm, Huntsville, AL

Current contracts:

• Summit County, CO: Peru Creek Brownfields Assessment
• United States Environmental Protection Agency: Howard Fork Acid Rock Drainage Source Interception Study
• United States Forest Service: Howard Fork Acid Rock Drainage Source Interception Study Participating Agreement

Thank You!
Patrick Willits,
Executive Director

TLR’s April Montgomery and USEPA’s Bill Schroeder check GPS location on the Howard Fork

TLR’s Pat Willits checks mine dump above the Howard Fork

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