The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
An additional $2.5 million needed to fund the project
By Alissa Johnson
Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) has awarded a $10 million grant to the Trampe Ranch conservation project, which aims to place nearly 6,000 acres of land between Gunnison and Gothic into a conservation easement held by The Nature Conservancy.
The grant is the largest ever awarded by GOCO and goes a long way toward raising the funds to conserve the Trampe Ranch.
“It’s truly monumental in Colorado conservation,” said Justin Spring with the Trust for Public Land (TPL). “[It demonstrates] how, as a collaborative effort, we can tackle projects of a very significant size like the Trampe Ranch.”
The ranch accounts for nearly 20 percent of agricultural activity in Gunnison County. The Trampe family and the TPL signed an option agreement last summer. Since then, Spring said, the town of Crested Butte committed $1 million, Gunnison County committed $200,000, 1% for Open Space committed $200,000, and the federal government provided support to the tune of $3.8 million through the Gunnison Sage-grouse Initiative.
“With the GOCO news, it’s a really impressive story of public support from every level of government,” Spring said.
The grant was awarded as part of GOCO’s Protect Initiative, which will invest $47 million in large-scale conservation opportunities over the next three years. Three other grants were awarded for a total of $20 million, but the $10 million dedicated to the Trampe Ranch conservation project was by far the largest.
Susan Lohr, TPL’s consulting project manager for the Trampe Ranch conservation easement, called the award humbling. She helped form the Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy more than 20 years ago to support the conservation of local ranchlands, and GOCO has supported that work from the beginning.
“GOCO first invested in our program 21 years ago when the Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy was just getting started, and they have continued support for conserving Gunnison ranchlands through all these years. We are very grateful that their commitment has now come full circle with this grant for Trampe Ranch,” Lohr said.
To date, GOCO has invested $33.1 million in Gunnison County projects and has conserved nearly 25,000 acres, not including the Trampe acreage. Now that the $10 million grant has been awarded, Spring says efforts will turn toward securing private support. Currently, $2.5 million needs to be raised to fund the project.
“We definitely cannot do it alone. Not only is it important to help protect local agriculture through this project, it’s also important for folks to understand that while the land remains private, it provides tremendous benefit to public lands and trails that many people use,” Spring said.
He said about 125 miles of trails and dirt roads have direct views of the upper East River ranch alone, which extends from Brush Creek up to Gothic.
“Even though it will be private and working agriculture, the views and the wildlife it protects provide tremendous benefit to the thousands of folks who use those trails,” Spring continued.
It has been a collaborative effort up to this point, from parties including the Trampe family, The Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land and local organizations like Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy and the Crested Butte Land Trust (CBLT).
“I think it’s incredible,” Ann Johnston, CBLT executive director, said of the new grant. “It showcases the commitment that GOCO has to Gunnison County and preserving the ranching heritage… There has been tremendous community and state support, too, and to me it demonstrates how much people care about their environment. Ranchers have always been wonderful stewards of the land and it’s nice to ensure that will happen in the future.”
“RMBL is very excited to see the valley’s ranching heritage protected. All of the ranchers in the valley have been extremely generous in how they have supported RMBL research and we look forward to having ranchers as our neighbors for a long time to come,” Ian Billick, executive director of RMBL, said.
The fundraising that remains will certainly continue to be a collaborative, community-wide effort. Lohr emphasized that donations of all sizes are welcome, and no level of support is too small to help permanently protect the ranch. A webpage has been set up to collect donations at http://gunnisonlegacy.org/Trampe-Ranch.php.
By contributing, donors are helping to preserve the Trampe Ranch but also contributing to his legacy. As a letter of support from a neighboring rancher stated, “…it is evident that he is not only working for the long term sustainability of his own operation, but for the larger community. Bill [Trampe] has a fundamental belief in the necessity of agriculture and protecting its viability for future generations.”
