The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Amount of contribution to be determined
By Alissa Johnson
The Trust for Public Land appeared before the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council on August 16 to ask for a financial contribution to the Trampe Ranch conservation project. While the council did not specify an amount for its contribution, councilmembers were supportive of donating to the project.
According to Justin Spring, project manager for the Trampe Ranch Project, the easement will conserve about 4,500 acres of rancher Bill Trampe’s land. When combined with 1,500 acres of land already conserved by Trampe, 6,000 acres of ranchland will be protected.
“What not everyone truly appreciates is that it extends from Gunnison all the way to Gothic,” Spring said. “For many years I only thought about it as the [parcels] closest to Mt. Crested Butte but in fact it comprises 6,000 acres from Gothic down to Gunnison.”
Spring explained that from the Trust for Public Land perspective and a state perspective, the project is unique in part because of the way that ranchers move their cattle up and down the Gunnison Valley throughout the season.
“You’ve got a handful of really important ranching families left in Gunnison, especially in this valley, Gunnison to Gothic, and they all have this elevation gradient in common, how they move their cattle according to the seasons and what the elevation gradient provides,” Spring said.
He added that the Trust for Public Land sees the project as crucial for many aspects of the local economy and recreation. According to Spring, 125 miles of local trails and a couple of roadways have direct views of the upper East River portions of the Trampe Ranch, which is important for hikers and bikers.
The ranch also generates 20 percent of Gunnison County’s agricultural economy. Moreover, the easement will tie senior water rights to the land so that water will stay in the valley. That’s significant, considering Spring’s explanation that about 80 percent of the water ranchers put on the land returns to the ground water flows and into the rivers.
After explaining the benefits, Spring got down to business and asked the council to consider contributing to the project. The Land Trust is in the final phase of fundraising, looking to garner another $1 million in commitments.
“We’re really here to talk to you about the project and see if you might consider support from the town of Mt. Crested Butte,” Spring said.
Councilmembers had a variety of questions for Spring. Danny D’Aquila wanted to know who would control the water in the conservation easement. According to Spring, the landowner still controls it, but the significance of protecting the water rights lies in the fact that water would be tied to the land.
“Someone can’t come in and buy his property with the conservation easement on it and take the water off and ship it to Denver or L.A. or what have you,” Spring said.
“And what kind of support are we talking about?” D’Aquila asked.
“Great question. As I mentioned, we’ve got about a million-dollar goal left out of a $24.5 million campaign. We’re getting close, but that last million is always tough to get,” Spring said.
“You know your budget better than we do and can do your own internal calculus, but hopefully this project would be viewed as bringing tremendous benefit here and whatever you can commit to the project would be really appreciated,” Spring continued.
He pointed out that in addition to the funding, the support itself sent a good message to other government entities, the state and neighbors that the project is important.
“Where or who or is there any opposition?” asked councilmember Ken Lodovico.
“No real opposition,” Spring said, though he did share that early in the conservation process some individuals expressed frustration that there would be no public access on the land.
“That could change down the road,” Spring explained. “The easement doesn’t preclude that from happening, but when you think about a working ranch it can be a real headache to balance that.”
Mayor Todd Barnes asked Spring to confirm that the town of Crested Butte had contributed $1 million to the project.
“It’s nice to have that real estate transfer tax,” Barnes said, referring to a funding source that the town of Crested Butte has but Mt. Crested Butte does not.
Barnes and Spring indicated that in previous, informal conversations, the figure of $50,000 had been tossed around as the Mt. Crested Butte commitment. That number felt light to Barnes, given how much Crested Butte had committed to the project, but ultimately said that the amount would be up to the councilmembers.
“I don’t know that it’s something we can decide tonight, but it’s certainly something to think about,” Barnes said. “In terms of approval and commitment, I see no reason why we can’t say we’re completely behind this. I don’t have any reason not to.”
According to Spring, the Land Trust hopes to close on the first phase of the project in December and the rest in 2017. While he said that it would be good to lock down commitments as soon as possible, the organization had some flexibility.
“That ballpark [of $50,000] would be tremendous in terms of the amount, and we can be flexible in terms of timing,” Spring said.
