Taking action today to benefit tomorrow

Doing something good today that will benefit tomorrow always feels good. And so we should all feel great with the acquisition of more than 300 acres of land to be preserved up the Slate River Valley.
We all seem to agree that open space is one of the primary draws for this valley. This community has a lot of groups focused on it. We spend money on it. We promote it. Preserving the Rocky Mountain views, the night skies, the elbowroom is what keeps many of us living here and many visitors visiting here.
Putting more than 300 acres of land up the Slate River under contract for preservation purposes is significant. The closing on the property will happen in June but the state has already thrown in $2 million and the town of Crested Butte another million. More will be needed but it is money well spent. This property is very high profile and given the growth this resort community has seen in the last couple of decades, it is an almost unbelievable opportunity.
This land is prime property that could easily be developed with home sites. While there probably isn’t much chance of that happening anytime soon given the economy, it is the idea of looking to the future and taking concrete action today that is exciting. One hundred six acres of the so-called Kochevar property sits directly in the view shed of Crested Butte. The property will bring with it some trails, the continuation of grazing and thus a nod to our agricultural roots, protection of some of the finest wetlands in the state and a known elk migration corridor.
This purchase touches on most of the values we share when we all talk about preserving open space. So a nod of appreciation goes out to the town of Crested Butte, to Justin Spring and the Trust for Public Land, the Crested Butte Land Trust, the State of Colorado and its GOCO funds—and to the Kochevar family for working out what appears to be the proverbial win-win deal. While the property has been in the hands of the family for well over a century, the land will be now be preserved in our community in perpetuity.
Thank you to all.
And while the project is close to being a done deal, it will take more money to finalize the entire venture. So keep the Crested Butte Land Trust in mind the next several months. That group is heading up the fundraising effort and this is a project well worth funding.