Group assists with conservation efforts
By Lynn Volkens
Do you know of a scenic vista, a watershed area or wildlife corridor in Gilpin County that you’d like to see preserved? The Mountain Area Land Trust (MALT) would like to know about it, if you do. Betsy Hays, Development Director for MALT and Land Conservation Specialist, Matt Ashley visited the Peak to Peak Rotary Club on Thursday, April 4, 2013, to talk about the group’s mission and activities.
Based in Evergreen, MALT’s motto is “Saving the Land…Leaving a Legacy.” They focus on local areas that have particular natural and/or historic value. Hays said the entire service area encompasses 3,200 square miles including the mountainous parts of Clear Creek, Jefferson and Park Counties-and, as of last month, Gilpin County. To date, MALT has been instrumental in preserving parts of the Alderfer/Three Sisters Open Space Park, Elephant Butte Denver Mountain Park, Beaver Brook Watershed, Bergen Nature Trail, open space in the Paradise Hills subdivision and numerous private land projects throughout their service area. One major achievement dates back to 1994, when MALT raised $2.4 million to purchase Noble Meadow and convey it to Jefferson County and Evergreen Park Recreation District. The group is currently working on preservation projects for Pennsylvania Mountain, Meyer Ranch, Clear Creek restoration and an ancient bristlecone pine forest in Park County. In Gilpin County, they are working with a private landowner to preserve lands that cross the Jefferson/Gilpin boundary line in the Golden Gate Estates subdivision and they’re planning an upcoming event in conjunction with the Lincoln Hills Fly Fishing Club.
MALT celebrated its 20th anniversary, and conservation of its 20,000th acre, in 2012. It receives no tax money, instead operating as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization on donations from individual families, three dozen private businesses and grant funding. They are using a Colorado Coalition of Land Trust’s Center of Excellence grant to implement a new database system. Hays said they have a Conservation Plan for Jefferson, Clear Creek and Park Counties, and have now started to incorporate Gilpin County. They will look for lands, generally of ten acres or more in size, although they’ll look at five-acre sites if there’s water on them, Ashley said. MALT evaluates proposed sites in terms of value for scenic views, watersheds, wildlife habitat and corridors, rare plants, wetlands, grasslands, agricultural and ranch lands, recreational areas and buffer zones for urban interface areas.
The Colorado Coalition of Land Trust estimates that Colorado is losing 100,000 acres annually of prime farm and ranch lands, scenic views, wildlife corridors and water resources, and that 2 million more acres need to be preserved over the next ten years to protect those areas. MALT plays a part in that effort not only by helping landowners with conservation easements, but by purchasing key lands. They hold one fund-raising event each year, said Hays. “A Night in the Park,” held each August (August 10th this year) at Alderfer/Three Sisters Park, is an evening of dinner, live music and a silent auction. Hays said 76% of MALT’s funds are spent on land conservation. They have one full-time employee (Ashley) and several part-time employees who offer expert assistance to landowners in obtaining the conservation easements that will protect their lands from development forever. The employees also make annual visits to conserved lands to insure that they stay in in a natural state and “will look like that forever, as a legacy for future generations,” Hays explained. Landowners can choose to keep the conserved lands in their own names. Conserving the land in this manner can reduce its value when it comes to a future sale, one Rotarian pointed out. There’s an offset, though, in tax advantages, Hays noted, with significant federal and state tax credits, up to $375,000, that can be kept or sold.
Of 1,723 land trusts in the United States, only 180 have earned national accreditation from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. MALT became one of that elite ten percent in 2012. The organization had previously earned state certification in 2010. Considered the Gold Standard for land trusts, these certifications are given only after comprehensive scrutiny of organization structure, management, policies, operations, accounting, fund-raising activities, legal practices and volunteer policies. The accreditations boost public confidence in an organization, assuring sponsors and landowners of a quality-run financially sound organization and a proven track record of commitment, accuracy and success. Rotarians were enthusiastic about MALT’s work and had ideas for ways to help. Eradicating noxious weeds on conserved lands is one way Peak to Peak Rotarians may work with MALT on future projects in Gilpin County.
To learn more about the Mountain Area Land Trust, call 303-679-0950 or visit www.savetheland.org.