Conservation Values in the Connection Program

By Heather Mills, Agriculture Program Manager

Fall is my favorite season and gorgeous weather accompanied me on site visits for the Community Conservation Connection Program. One of the great pleasures of my job is meeting up with ranchers on their pride and joy properties - this time to collect data for landowner’s Present Condition Reports. In an effort to take advantage of the 5- and 10-year agreements, we are gathering important information about each property to use as a baseline resource to monitor any change through time, similar to baseline reports for conservation easements.

By obtaining a variety of data about the unique conservation values and historical and ecological benefits of each of these properties, it’s easy to see why conserving these ranches  benefits our communities, wildlife, and our region as a whole. Enrollment in the Community Conservation Connection Program requires that landowners continue basic agricultural management practices, including tying water rights to the land and limiting non-agricultural development for the length of the agreement. Ranchers in Chaffee County face ever-growing pressures from development, whether it be encroaching on their boundaries, threats to their water rights, or the temptation to sell everything to the highest bidder. Rest assured, most of the Chaffee County cattle ranchers do not want to ever see their land divided or not in agricultural production. Many say their greatest desire is to keep their ranch in the family for their children and their children’s children to run. 

It's not uncommon to have three or more generations of one family working and living on the ranch. A few of the current participants in the program are the 6th or 7th generation keeping the ranching family tie going. Despite the large acreages these home ranches occupy, all of the producers use summer or even year round grazing leases to maintain the health of their cattle herd. Several talk about finding their ‘sweet spot’ with the number of cows they can run having tried more or less, all things considered. In the big picture of cattle ranching, Chaffee County producers would be considered ‘small’ in numbers and nearly all of them do all, if not a hefty percentage, of the work themselves. They know and cherish each and every square inch of their land.

Many of these properties provide critical habitat for many wildlife species. When asked what types of wildlife they’ve seen on their properties, the lists are long and I was treated to many sightings during my visits as well. A moose decided to camp out on a property west of Poncha Springs for months. That same property is a wintering ground for bald eagles, and during this site visit, a flock of sandhill cranes circled above. During a different site visit,  the landowner informed my co-worker, Ricki Garden, and me about a beaver who built a dam on an oxbow of the Arkansas River near the lower end of their property. Further investigation revealed the dam and a clever lodge the beaver had built from an old wood pile collected in a narrow gully on the bank of the stream. The landowner said high water washes out the dam every spring but it doesn’t take long before there’s another. The beaver’s dams slow the flow of the stream allowing for the surrounding riparian area to soak up more water, making this a haven for families of deer, raptors and migratory birds.

Several of the properties have installed water catchment systems such as ponds which become an integral water source for a variety of birds and other wildlife. These ranches also depend on this water to feed pivots, siderolls, and flood irrigate their grazing grounds and hay fields. These open fields of green are part of Chaffee County’s scenic rural character. 

It seems I always catch a glimpse of more than the average passer-byer and often see something new tucked away on the ranch visits. Seeing an old homestead building is better with a story that goes with it. Bearing witness to a family cemetery protected by a majestic entrance with a wood rail fence and nestled against the hillside overlooking the valley is an incredible honor. Riding on a 4-wheeler up to a perfect photo location and hearing stories of past generations and about coming home to the ranch after college in the city and just laying in the middle of a hay field looking up at the stars, so happy to be home.