Colorado West Land Trust will be applying to the Land Trust Accreditation Commission for renewal of accreditation this summer. A public comment period is now open. To read the press release and find out how to comment click this link….

Delta County Independent, February 6, 2019 — Colorado West Land Trust ended 2018 on a high note. During the last week of the year, the Land Trust completed conservation projects totaling 2,427 acres in Delta and Mesa counties. These properties represent some of the region’s finest ranch land and wildlife habitat. 

On Dec. 27, Jeremy and Candice Fouts conserved their 1,707-acre ranch in Delta County. “We [originally] bought this property to make a deliberate lifestyle change and to do something ...

Help construct shade shelters for the Lunch Loop trailhead and continued work along the Monument Corridor!

Join the Monument Mile campaign to raise funds for THRILL! (Trailhead Redesign and Improvements to Lunch Loop) and the next phase of construction for the paved trail that will connect the Lunch Loop Trailhead to the South Camp paved trail and the Redlands neighborhoods.

In 2017, Colorado West Land Trust, the City of Grand Junction, Mesa County, and the Bureau of Land Management partnered to gather ...

GRAND JUNCTION, CO   November 28, 2018 – The City of Grand Junction and Colorado West Land Trust are thrilled to announce that the recent $400,000 award from the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife brings the fundraising effort to construct the Lunch Loop Connector Trail to the finish line.  This $2.5 million project will link some of the Grand Valley’s most popular amenities and neighborhoods to the world renown and community favorite Lunch Loop and Three Sisters trail system. With ...

In 1979, Rob and Clare Talbott purchased their first orchard in Palisade, with the hope of relocating from Golden to farm full time. Four decades later, they’ve not only achieved their goal, they’ve also helped ensure that others can follow their footsteps.

“It was working for my cousin, Harry Talbott, in 1979 that got me interested in orchards,” Rob Talbott said.

Gradually Rob and Clare added additional parcels to their C & R Farms, allowing them to move to the ...

In 1912, Alec McLeod homesteaded a beautiful property on Black Mesa, high above the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. A century later, his great-grandson, Tom McLeod, along with his sons, Custer and Levi, carry on the family heritage. They still own and operate Homestead Ranch, which lies along the West Elk & Historic Scenic Byway.

In 2011, the McLeod family protected the original 1,683-acre Homestead Ranch property with a conservation agreement that would forever protect the unmatched views and important habitat. Five years later the McLeods had the opportunity to purchase an ...

Recently, we published inserts in newspapers across the Western Slope to share some of the work we have accomplished in the past year. With generous support from our community, we have continued to conserve agricultural land, along with its rural heritage, wildlife habitat, recreational areas and scenic lands in western Colorado.

To read our 16-page insert that was published in the Daily Sentinel on Oct. 28, 2018, click here.

If you would like to read the insert published in the Montrose ...

Last December, CWLT completed conservation work with Roblee and Clare Talbott of C & R Farms. This 22-acre, highly-productive peach and apricot orchard is the third conservation project for the family, who have grown fruit on East Orchard Mesa since 1979.

Projects like this are possible in Colorado in part because we have access to several sources of funding to purchase conservation easements on valuable acreage. Financial assistance through Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Farm Bill program, and our ...

The stewardship responsibility of Colorado West Land Trust, the partnership between Mesa Land Trust and Black Canyon Regional Land Trust, is an enormous undertaking. Between the two organizations there are 543 separate conservation easements covering over 120,000 acres across the service area that must be monitored each year by staff members, volunteers and contractors.

Annual monitoring visits and the related hours spent entering information and compiling reports takes the CWLT staff thousands of hours each year. To make the ...

By Sharon Sullivan

Ed Chamberlin grew up in San Jose, California in the middle of a cherry orchard that he walked through daily to get to school. Nowadays, when he visits the city he says you can’t find a cherry tree.

“It used to be a rich agricultural area – now it’s wall to wall development – the entire valley. It broke my heart. It was a beautiful area,” Chamberlin said. “That could happen here,” if not for the work of our ...