$10 Million Grant for 6,000 Acre Conservation Easement

Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) just awarded a $10 million grant to the Trampe Ranch conservation project, which aims to place nearly 6,000 acres of land between Gunnison and Gothic into a conservation easement held by The Nature Conservancy. The grant is the largest ever awarded by GOCO and goes a long way toward raising the funds to conserve the Trampe Ranch.

“It’s truly monumental in Colorado conservation,” said Justin Spring with the Trust for Public Land (TPL). “[It demonstrates] how, as a collaborative effort, we can tackle projects of a very significant size like the Trampe Ranch.”

The ranch accounts for nearly 20 percent of agricultural activity in Gunnison County. The Trampe family and the TPL signed an option agreement last summer. Since then, Spring said, the town of Crested Butte committed $1 million, Gunnison County committed $200,000, 1% for Open Space committed $200,000, and the federal government provided support to the tune of $3.8 million through the Gunnison Sage-grouse Initiative.

“I think it’s incredible,” Ann Johnston, CBLT executive director, said of the new grant. “It showcases the commitment that GOCO has to Gunnison County and preserving the ranching heritage… There has been tremendous community and state support, too, and to me it demonstrates how much people care about their environment. Ranchers have always been wonderful stewards of the land and it’s nice to ensure that will happen in the future.”

Learn More About this Grant at the Crested Butte News >