Good things don’t always come in small packages. Take, for example, the huge package that will help

Good things don’t always come in small packages. Take, for example, the huge package that will help affordable housing in the valley that was presented to the Gunnison Valley Housing Foundation (GVHF) from longtime residents Butch and Judy Clark.
Literally millions of dollars will flow into affordable housing through a generous donation provided by the Clarks. Here’s a big shout out of thanks to Butch and Judy.
Some background: The Clarks have owned a 960-acre in-holding north of Gunnison on the edge of the Fossil Ridge Wilderness area since about the time when Don McLean’s “American Pie” was on top of the charts in the early 1970s. About two and a half years ago Butch approached the fledgling GVHF with the idea of donating the land so the foundation could either sell the land or do a land swap with the Forest Service that would result in funding for affordable housing in the county.
So the real work began and a big part of it came to fruition this month when things finally started falling into place between the GVHF, the Trust for Public Land (TPL) and the county. The county granted TPL and the GVHF a subdivision exemption to slice out a 15-acre parcel from the rest of the 960 acres so the foundation can keep the “Governors / Clark” cabin for public use. The feds will acquire the remaining 945-acre property in pieces through land exchanges with third-party private landowners.
Remember, I said this was a big (and somewhat complicated) package. The property was appraised this past summer for $4.4 million dollars. That’s a lot of help that will flow into housing. The first part is already moving toward the bank.
A deal that should culminate by the end of the year will trade 331 acres of that land to the Forest Service. The third-party landowner purchasing Forest Service land to complete reclamation of an old mine will pay about $1.5 million to the TPL, which will then pass along most of that to the Gunnison Valley Housing Foundation. The plan is to use that money for a new affordable housing rental project being proposed for Crested Butte. The money from the Clarks’ generous donation will be the foundation of real housing in the north end of the valley. There is more money where that came from that could be used throughout the valley to make it easier for workers and families to stay here.
Butch apparently wrote a graduate thesis on how to anticipate housing needs when a major industrial project is proposed in a rural area. Sounds like that could happen here for any number of reasons. It is obvious Butch has a passion for the issue and put a lot of money where his heart is. And let me emphasize that on top of that, he carved out a 15-acre piece of property that contains a nice cabin. He is letting people rent and use that through the Gunnison Nordic Club.
So here’s a round of applause to Butch and Judy Clark. Through their generous donations, more people might be able to afford to live here and those people will be afforded an opportunity to visit a special place in the backcountry. Thanks for the foresight and actual physical contributions to this effort that makes this a better place. Good things do sometimes come in small packages but the Clarks have given us all a huge gift.