The Montezuma Land Conservancy announced the completion of a conservation project on the West Fork of the Mancos River, thanking landowners for their contributions.
The end of March marked the completion of a project the Montezuma Land Conservancy said was 24 years in the making. With a final 165-acre area officially under the stewardship of the MLC, more than five miles of the West Fork of the Mancos River are now under the organization’s protection.
The organization aims to keep the land in pristine condition for the benefit of wildlife by permanently restricting development.
“It really leaves the wildlife undisturbed and able to thrive without vegetation coming down, without the river becoming polluted. It keeps the stream species healthy, which keeps the predators and browsers and grazers all coming,” said Molly Mazel, deputy director of the MLC.
The final property – joining the five-mile-long conservation puzzle started in 2002 – shares a northern border with state land and flows into the rest of the protected properties.
“That’s a really important riparian corridor area to protect from development and any bad things happening to the river,” Mazel said. “Having now five conservation easements in a row protecting more than 5 miles of the river right below state-managed land is really – we feel – a huge win for the Mancos watershed as a whole.”
Landowners along the river signed away their rights to develop to the MLC, which will also prevent development by future landowners on the protected areas.
“We now hold those development rights and our mission is to forever conserve those lands,” Mazel said.
This is the 96th conservation easement project the MLC has completed in Southwest Colorado. Staff will continue to monitor the property to make sure it stays in good condition.
“It’s beautiful. The river is clean. The landowners have been wonderful stewards of the land, and we’re thrilled now to be able to work in partnership with them and all future landowners on keeping it that way,” Mazel said.
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