Banded Peaks Ranch

Colorado State University Program Plan

Acquisition of Forest Legacy Conservation Easement On

the Banded Peak Ranch

March 17, 2020

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary...…………………………………………………………………………………. 2

Forest Legacy Program Information………………………………………………… 2-3

Colorado State Forest Service………………………………………………………… 3

CSFS History, Role and Mission, Unique Programs………………………… 3-4

The Conservation Fund…………………………………………………………….. 4

Banded Peaks Ranch Conservation Easement…………………………………………. 4-7

Significance and Purpose of the Easement………………………………………….. 5

Physical Location and Setting……………………………………………………….. 6

Terrain and Vegetation………………………………………………………………. 7

Program Operating Cost Estimate…………………………………………………………… 7-8

Easement Appraisal/Environmental Assessment……………………………………………. 8

Appendices

A. Map of the Property B. Letters of Support

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SUMMARY

Colorado State University requests authorization to accept title to a Conservation Easement on the Banded Peaks Ranch under the Forest Legacy Program to be managed by the Colorado State Forest Service. The two easements are for a total of 16,723 acres located in Archuleta County, Colorado.

The Banded Peaks Ranch is located approximately 20 miles south of the community of Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The easement will be granted in perpetuity. In the spring of 2020, the USFS awarded the Banded Peaks Ranch with $7,000,000.

A total of $7,000,000 for the acquisition of the Banded Peaks Ranch Conservation Easement will be received as part of the Forest Legacy Program. The Forest Legacy grant along with matching funds of $6,380,000 from a private foundation, as granted to The Conservation Fund, will be used to purchase the easement. There will be no donation claimed from the conservation easement.

The Board of Governors has been asked to hold legal title to the Conservation Easement on behalf of the State of Colorado, because the Colorado State Forest Service is part of the Colorado State University System. The Purchase Agreement provides for a transfer of the Conservation Easements through Deeds of Conservation Easement and for a title insurance policy for the benefit of the Board. Acquisition of the Conservation Easement falls under the State’s definition of capital construction because it acquires a limited right-of-use to the land.

Under the Conservation Easement, the seller relinquishes all rights to subdivision and development and agrees to manage the property under a Multi-Resource Management Plan approved by the Colorado State Forest Service. The CSFS has the right to enter the property to monitor its land use and insure all activities comply with the stewardship plan and provisions of the conservation easement. Active forest management will promote forest health and reduce the risk of loss from fire, insects, and disease. CSFS will maintain records of the property and its monitoring activities.

FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM INFORMATION

The Forest Legacy Program (FLP), a Federal program in partnership with states, supports state efforts to protect environmentally sensitive forestlands. The Forest Legacy Program has been in place since its creation under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (CFAA, 16 U.S.C.2103c). It was implemented in 1992 and amended in 1996 to offer a State Grant Program. Since its inception, all easements purchased under the Forest Legacy Program have remained intact as conservation easements. Conservation of environmentally sensitive forests is part of the Colorado State Forest Service mission. Through its participation in the Forest Legacy Program, a federal program in partnership with states, it supports efforts to protect environmentally sensitive forestlands.

Designed to encourage the protection of privately owned forestlands, the Forest Legacy Program is a voluntary program. To maximize the public benefits it achieves, the program focuses on the

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acquisition of partial interests in privately owned forestlands. The Forest Legacy Program helps states develop and carry out forest conservation plans. It encourages and supports acquisition of conservation easements, which are legally binding agreements transferring a negotiated set of property rights from one party to another, without removing the property from private ownership. Most Forest Legacy Program conservation easements restrict development, require sustainable forestry practices, and protect other conservation values.

Colorado began participating in the Forest Legacy Program in 2000. Governor Owens petitioned the United States Forest Service to include Colorado in the Forest Legacy Program and at the same time designated the Colorado State Forest Service as the lead agency.

The Forest Legacy Program requires identification of qualified Forest Legacy Areas in Colorado. An assessment of need and identification of the Forest Legacy Areas was completed in 2006, and an updated AON will be available in June of 2020. An annual call for project proposals is sent out to individuals, organizations and land trusts across Colorado. Proposals are rated according to criteria established by Colorado’s Forest Stewardship Coordinating Committee and recommendations are made to the State Forester. The project(s) selected by the Colorado State Forester then compete at the regional and finally at the national level for funding. The Forest Legacy Program is a federally funded program. The Colorado State Forest Service receives federal program funds to administer this program.

COLORADO STATE FOREST SERVICE

The Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) is an agency established by the Colorado State Constitution (reference C.R.S. 23-30-302). CSFS is established under the Board of Governors and administratively is one of the four main branches of Colorado State University (“CSU”). The CSFS is an educationally-based forestry organization that provides technical advice and direct assistance to private forest landowners, communities, counties, and other state agencies in the management, protection, and utilization of Colorado's forests. Its state office is on the CSU Campus and there are 18 district offices throughout the state.

CSFS History, Role and Mission, Unique Programs The mission of the CSFS is to achieve stewardship of Colorado’s environment through forestry outreach and service. Specifically, CSFS strives to:

• Achieve improvement of Colorado’s renewable natural resource base for values the public nowregards important, while being sensitive to future needs• Provide for natural resource protection in mountains, plains, and urban settings from damagingeffects of fire, insects, disease, wind, water, and people• Achieve public understanding of forestry’s role and value in a healthy environment;• Participate in non-profit and advisory boards• Coordinate forest management efforts among State agencies including the Division of Wildlife,State Parks, Office of Emergency Management, Department of Military Affairs, and Departmentof Transportation• Foster and promote soil erosion control on forestlands

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• Conduct a forestry educational program with landowners regarding growing, harvesting, andmarketing of forest products• Disseminate information and statistics concerning forests and forestry in the state• Conduct investigations and experiments tending to further the intent of this law• Report to the Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources at such times and onsuch matters as the Executive Director may require• Cooperate with all state agencies, which need and request aid and assistance from aprofessional forester

THE CONSERVATION FUND

The Colorado State Forest Service has worked with The Conservation Fund to obtain these valuable Conservation Easements. The Conservation Fund is a national, non-profit land conservation organization, and has been in business and operating in Colorado since its inception in 1985. They forge partnerships to conserve America’s legacy of land and water resources through land acquisitions and leadership training. They help facilitate land conservation transactions, working cooperatively with public and private partners. The Conservation Fund and its partners demonstrate sustainable conservation solutions that emphasize the integration of economic and environmental goals.

The Conservation Fund has raised the matching monies needed for the Banded Peaks Ranch easement to be purchased with the federal Forest Legacy Grant, and has negotiated the easement on the property. The Conservation Fund has a strong history in Colorado. Perhaps the most notable project completed by the Conservation Fund, was the protection of the 21,000-acre Greenland Ranch, in southern Douglas County.

BANDED PEAKS RANCH CONSERVATION EASEMENT

Located in the high elevation forests of southwest Colorado, the 16,723 -acre Banded Peak Ranch project is a critical opportunity to complete the last large piece of several decades of public-private collaboration in the Navajo River Watershed, while also achieving Forest Legacy goals that will benefit Colorado and the nation. The Navajo River Watershed, including the Banded Peak Ranch is one of the few remaining areas in the state that is intact and pristine.

Due to the many federal, state and private conservation investments adjoining and surrounding the Banded Peak Ranch, this project is an opportunity to complete the protection of an entire watershed comprised of forestlands, working ranches, and critical wildlife habitat. In 2000, The Conservation Fund completed the Navajo River Watershed Conservation Plan (“the Plan”) in conjunction with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Archuleta County and local residents. A copy of the plan is available at the CSFS website at www.csfs.colostate.edu. This Plan inventoried and documented the natural and cultural resources of the Navajo River watershed, identified threats to these resources, and created an implementation plan to conserve the most critical resources.

Since 2000, The Conservation Fund and its many partners have completed a series of conservation easements on 45,882 acres of private ranchlands situated both upstream and

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downstream from the Banded Peak Ranch. These results are meeting the Plan’s objective to form an expansive open space system along the upper reaches of the Navajo River—one that links the high elevation wilderness and national forest lands with the working ranchlands at lower elevations in the Navajo River valley.

Central to this significant conservation effort is The Conservation Fund’s long-term partnership with the owners of 50,000 acres of private land at the headwaters of the Navajo River comprised of three ranches: Banded Peak Ranch, Catspaw Ranch and Navajo Headwaters Ranch (the “Navajo Ranches”). The focus of this proposal is 16,723 acres on the southern-most ranch—the Banded Peak Ranch—, which is more than 82%, forested. The Catspaw and Navajo Headwaters Ranches have already been protected with a series of conservation easements on 32,754 acres, including a 2008 Forest Legacy easement on 8,690 acres of the Catspaw Ranch.

Situated at the top of the Navajo River watershed, the three Navajo Ranches anchor the 1832 Tierra Amarilla land grant and are surrounded by the South San Juan Wilderness Area and the San Juan National Forest to the west, and the Rio Grande National Forest to the east. These ranches gain over 4,000 feet in elevation from the valley floor to the Continental Divide and together contain over 20 miles of the two main forks of the Navajo River and its crucial riparian area. The upper reaches of these rivers are remote and wild, containing alpine tundra and 12,000+ foot peaks, and thickly forested pine, spruce and aspen covered mountain valleys. The last grizzly bear killed in Colorado was taken from the wild and isolated Navajo River watershed. Large migrations of elk and mule deer, and the predators that follow the herds, move from the high elevations to the lower ranges each season, as they have for hundreds of years.

The Navajo River flows into the San Juan River, a major tributary to the Colorado River. As part of the San Juan-Chama Water Project, the Oso Diversion five miles downstream of the Banded Peak Ranch delivers Navajo River water to the Rio Grande River basin, where it furnishes water for agricultural uses and supplies municipal water to the cities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, among others.

The combination of its location in the valley, the viable forest ecosystem it supports, and the connection it makes to thousands of acres of wild and protected lands make the Banded Peak Ranch compelling for conservation. A Forest Legacy conservation easement on 16,723 acres of the Banded Peak Ranch will be the capstone of The Conservation Fund’s efforts in the Navajo River Watershed, bringing the total to over 61,500 protected acres. This initiative is saving a significant piece of this region’s natural and cultural heritage; providing ecological, wildlife and management benefits throughout the ecosystem; and producing one of the most significant landscape-level conservation achievements in Colorado.

Significance and Purpose of the Easement

When The Conservation Fund began work in the Navajo River watershed, Archuleta County had not yet enacted an open space or community development plan. Spurred by an 85% population increase during the 1990s, the county undertook the process of development planning and identification of critical areas in the county for conservation and open space preservation. The Navajo River Watershed was identified as one of these high priority areas for conservation.

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After adopting the Archuleta County Community Plan (“Community Plan”) in 2001, land use regulations were implemented “with particular emphasis on promoting sound development practices that conserve open space, encourage agricultural land preservation, preserve the rural character of the area, and protect the natural resources of the County.” Revised in 2017, the Community Plan establishes a Natural Resources and Hazards Goal to provide for managing growth so that the “scenic beauty of Archuleta County remains intact. The dramatic mountain backdrop with vistas of agricultural buildings, ranches, and open space in the foreground is preserved. The air is clean, rivers run free and clear, and wildlife populations remain healthy through preservation of habitat and migration corridors on public as well as private land.”

A Regional Parks, Recreation, Open Space & Trails Master Plan (“Master Plan”) was adopted by Archuleta County in 2003. At the time of its revision in 2007, acquisition and preservation of open space ranked as the residents’ single-most important priority. Citing an increased concern about the rapid development taking place on the fringes of the national forest, the Master Plan directs that “this open space is vital infrastructure to the future well-being of the County as well as the nation and should be preserved and protected without compromise”(emphasis added). Much of the high-altitude acreage on Banded Peak Ranch’s east border runs along the Continental Divide and falls within Archuleta County’s High to Highest Priority Area for protection of Open Space. The Master Plan also recognizes that the mountainsides and ridgelines as viewed from county roadways, trails, and other landscapes “form the very distinct and beautiful, and possibly vulnerable, backdrop for the county. Archuleta County should do everything within its power to work proactively with the federal government to protect the ecological and aesthetic value of these lands.”

At the state level, the Banded Peak Ranch lies within the Headwaters of the San Juan & Navajo Rivers Priority Landscape identified in 2008 by the Colorado Conservation Partnership (CCP) as one of 25 priority areas for protection under the Keep It Colorado initiative. The CCP represents Colorado’s five leading conservation organizations: The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, The Conservation Fund, Colorado Open Lands, and Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust. This landscape-level Keep It Colorado effort is critical to the people of Colorado, providing countless benefits to wildlife and the people who are reliant on the lands and water within the Navajo River Watershed.

Physical Location and Setting

The Property is located in the Chalk Mountains and is adjacent to the Rio Grande National Forest on the east and the San Juan National Forest on the west, and is visible from those public lands and from nearby public lands to the north including from the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail on public lands. The Property includes the Navajo River and rain and snow runoff from this Property flows into the Navajo River. The Property includes important forested lands, high elevation alpine tundra, rock outcroppings, and wildlife habitat and migration corridors for elk, mule deer, black bear, big horn sheep, mountain lion, Canada lynx; various bird species including Peregrine falcon, bald eagle, and osprey; and aquatic species including the San Juan Strain of the Colorado Cutthroat Trout.

The Banded Peak Ranch is bordered by federal land including the 1.8 million-acre Rio Grande

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National Forest to the east; and to the west the 1.8 million-acre San Juan National Forest and 158,790-acre South San Juan Wilderness. Banded Peak Ranch is bordered on the south by 8,692 acres under conservation easements with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation—the Binkley and Gooding properties—and south of that in New Mexico, the 20,400-acre Edward Sargent Wildlife Management Area. Protection of the Banded Peak Ranch will link the conservation of the upper and lower halves of the watershed, and will enhance the surrounding public lands by maintaining the healthy forests, critical wetland and riparian areas, crucial wildlife corridors, and the habitat that is necessary for the entire watershed ecosystem to function.

While the Banded Peak Ranch feels remote, it is only thirty minutes from Pagosa Springs on Highway 84. Beginning in earnest in the early 1990’s, the threat of conversion to non-forest and non-agricultural uses became a strong force in the region’s economy, as beautiful scenery and convenient amenities shifted what was once a timber and agriculturally based regional economy into a second home and tourist mecca.

Land speculators have targeted the Navajo River valley on several nearby ranches, including two 3,000-acre developments. Banded Peak Ranch is the only unprotected land remaining at the entrance to the Navajo River valley. With easy access and adjacency to other protected lands, the ranch is attractive for the kind of large lot subdivisions and ranchettes that are the primary threat in this area.

Terrain and Vegetation

The proposed easement property is over 80% forested and is located at elevations between 8,200 and 12,000 feet. The property contains Ponderosa pine, Limber pine, Douglas fir, white fir, corkbark fir, Engelmann spruce, Colorado blue spruce, Gambel oak, aspen, and cottonwood. Old growth forest conditions exist in some locations, while timber harvesting has occurred in others.

The overall condition of the forest is fair, with some stands in excellent condition and some in poor condition due to drought and bark beetle infestations (spruce beetle has been at epidemic levels in the region since 2001). Like most of the west, the forests on the ranch have changed over the past century due to fire suppression, and more currently, as a result of changing climate conditions. Portions of the proposed easement area contain old growth stands of aspen, Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, white fir, Colorado blue spruce and Engelmann spruce—providing a glimpse of what a natural pre-European forest may have looked like. Other sections of the proposed easement have been logged in the past. In some of these areas, the logging was done well and the forest is in good condition. In other areas there was logging of high-graded stands and the landowners have worked to restore those sections by removing white fir and encouraging Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and aspen.

Public Benefits

The conservation easement on the Banded Peaks Ranch does not include public access. Although the landowners do allow hunting on the property, set up by the ranch ONLY, there will be no additional public access granted. This easement will benefit the public in many ways including, maintaining a scenic, open, and undeveloped landscape to recreate in (Federal lands

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on 2 sides). The ranch is visible from many of the surrounding Federal Lands that are accessible to the public, and will help keep the open nature of the landscape. PROGRAM OPERATING COST ESTIMATE The CSFS has prepared the following projections for monitoring the Banded Peaks Ranch Conservation Easement. The cost of monitoring is nominal in comparison to the benefits to the private forestland base in Colorado. Additional easements will have similar costs and expenses. The Forest Legacy Program has been in place since its creation under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (CFAA, 16 U.S.C. 2103c). It was implemented in 1992 and amended in 1996 to offer a State Grant Program. Based on the history of the federal commitment to this program, CSFS anticipates that the federal funds for program administration will continue to be awarded. CSFS administers the Forest Agriculture program in Colorado and annually monitors these properties. The monitoring necessary for compliance with the Forest Legacy Program will be completed in conjunction with these other CSFS duties. Hence, the additional cost for the Forest Legacy Program monitoring will be minimal and there is very little risk to CSFS that it will be required to find other sources of funds to monitor the easements. Should that occur, CSFS is prepared to support the administrative costs through non-state funds. CSFS has established an endowment at the CSU Foundation to provide a long-term source funds to cover the cost of monitoring and is seeking additional contributions to the fund. The CSFS has prepared the following projections for monitoring the Banded Peak Conservation Easement. Five Year Projected Budget For Monitoring The Banded Peak Easement

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Salary $ 693 $714 $735 $757 $780 Operating $ 138 $142 $146 $151 $155 Administration $ 229 $236 $243 $250 $258 $1,060 $1,092 $1,124 $1,158 $1,193

Easement Appraisal/Environmental Assessment An appraisal of the conservation easement was completed by Kevin Chandler of Chandler Consulting and is dated March 9, 2020. The Appraisal conforms to federal “yellow book” standards. The appraisal has been reviewed and approved by the US Forest Service Review Appraiser. The “Before” fee value of the entire parcel was appraised at $41,465,000. The “After” value of the easement area was valued at $28,085,000. The value of the Conservation Easement is $13,380,000.

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A Phase I environmental assessment dated December 2019 was conducted on the parcels by Ecosphere Environmental Services, Inc. The assessment revealed no evidence of recognized, detrimental environmental conditions in connection with the property. The Purchase Agreement provides for a transfer of the conservation easement through Deeds of Conservation Easement and for a title insurance policy for the benefit of the Board. The title insurance will be paid by Seller and the Board closing costs, estimated to be under $5,000, will be paid through federal funds.

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APPENDIX A MAPS OF THE PROPERTY

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APPENDIX B SUPPORT LETTERS

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November 2018

Carolyn Aspelin Program Manager Forest Legacy Program Dear Ms. Aspelin, I am pleased to see that the Navajo River Headwaters 3 property is applying to receive funding from the Forest Legacy Program to protect the property from future development. The Navajo River Headwaters 3 property is located in the area which I represent in the Colorado legislature, and I write this letter to encourage the U.S. Forest Service to approve the property’s application for funding to the Forest Legacy Program. I understand that the Navajo River Headwaters 3 property is the last property that will ensure the completion of the larger initiative to protect privately owned ranches in the Navajo River watershed. This fact alone makes the property a high priority to fund at this time, and would ensure the completion of a conservation effort that has been ongoing in a critically important watershed for 20 years. The Navajo River Headwaters 3 property makes important contributions to the local economy in the area. The annual timber operations on the property provide critical support to mills in Montrose, Chama, Del Norte, and Alamosa. The private hunting program on the property supports the local recreation economy. Conservation of property will help sustain tourism, the County's dominant industry and economic vitality of neighboring ranches. The open nature of the property is critical to the Navajo River watershed's intact wildlife migration corridors for elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep from high-country summer range to lower elevation winter range. Finally, as a member of the interim Wildfire Matters Review Committee, I understand that active management of forested lands minimizes the risk of wildfires to communities. Wildfires pose concerns to fragile local economies, and of particular concern in the area that the property is located are the Durango-Pagosa Springs wildland urban interface areas. I understand that the Navajo River Headwaters 3 property is and has been actively working with the Colorado State Forest Service to complete forest management treatments on the property, and the landowners prioritizing ongoing active forest management on this property makes it a great fit to protect with Forest Legacy funding. Thank You, Barbara McLachlan (signed through email) Barbara McLachlan, Colorado State Representative

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