Sopris Sun THE
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 26 • AUGUST 6, 2009
C
Closed to Development A new conservation easement closes the gate to development on a ranch south of Carbondale By Terray Sylvester
Photo by Jane Bachrach
arbondale residents probably won’t notice the benefits of the July 30 agreement to preserve the Cold Mountain Ranch – at least not right away. The roughly 610-acre conservation easement passed into the hands of Pitkin County and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust on July 30. It’s designed to do two big things: Protect the property from becoming a subdivision or a golf course, and ensure that it remains in agriculture. But mainly, the easement is intended to preserve the land as it is. For owner Bill Fales, who currently runs about 200 head of cattle at Cold Mountain, agriculture is the primary goal of the easement “I think it’s really important to preserve some land. I think it’s really important to preserve the ability to grow food. I don’t think it’s important to have more golf courses,” Fales said. To ensure that the land remains in agriculture, the ranch’s water, mineral and grazing rights will remain with the property, Fales said. The water rights, some of the most senior in the valley, were a particularly crucial component of the agreement. “This easement is co-held by Pitkin County and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, and neither of them are very keen on conserving a big, irrigated ranch and then having a person get rid of the water,” Fales said. Fales worked to bring the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust into the agreement as another means of preserving the agricultural value of the land, “It’s really to double up on the protection so that I make sure there’s always an entity to enforce this easement. Who knows what political winds will blow in 100 years,” said Fales, who is president of the trust. “I wanted their perspective at the table. The majority of their board is appointed by the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and is made up of agricultural producers. So they have an understanding of the issues.” Fales predicted that Carbondale residents would feel the effects of the easement in subtle ways. Instead of experiencing an obvious gain, Carbondale has been spared a loss. A few more of those subtle benefits include the protection of water quality and wildlife habitat. A few more obvious ones are public access to the river and preservation of scenic values. The easement sets aside a 2.5-acre riverfront parcel near the northern boundary of the property for public recreation. The ranch lies alongside route 133, south of the border between Garfield and Pitkin counties. Until last week, it was one of the few remaining open
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