By Heather Mills, Agriculture Program Manager
The Community Conservation Connection program is rounding out the fourth year of this pilot program. Since the program’s launch in 2020, ten ranches voluntarily enrolled over 3200 acres in the program and entered non-perpetual Agricultural Conservation Agreements with Central Colorado Conservancy and Chaffee County.
This innovative program is unique to Chaffee County and supports working agricultural landowners by providing another option to help keep working lands working. It maintains key conservation values agricultural lands provide to our community, and the agreements limit nonagricultural development and ensure ongoing basic agricultural management practices. Program participants receive a monetary incentive of annual payments based on a per-acre rate. Additionally, by creating the opportunity to conserve ranch land, producers can ‘test drive’ a shorter term conservation easement in order to determine if a perpetual easement is a good fit for their operation.
In late 2023, the Conservancy evaluated the pilot program and developed changes to the eligibility requirements for agricultural producers to participate in the program along with identifying an increase in annual payments due to inflation. These changes were informed by input from the participating ranchers and the rancher task force that was part of creating the program, which was an outcome of the Envision Chaffee County process in 2019. After the program evaluation and identification of program changes, we submitted a grant application to Chaffee Common Ground and were approved for ten more years of funding!
Beginning in 2025, current participants and potential new participants can enroll in this official program that will offer 5-year and 10-year agreements, including a 10% rate incentive for a 10-year agreement, along with the following changes for all participants in the program:
Increased annual payments per acre: $20.40 per wet acre; $14.40 per dry acre.
Allows for 160 non-contiguous acres in up to 2 properties, or 150 contiguous acres.
Annual payment cap $14,400 (an increase of 20%).
The Community Conservation Connection program aims to foster broader appreciation in the local community and spread the word about how agricultural lands contribute to Chaffee County's quality of life and fulfill important conservation values that benefit human and non-human residents and visitors alike.
The pressure for ranchers to sell their property is higher than ever and in order to make their operation viable, every bit of financial support helps. With ranchers enrolled in the Community Conservation Connection, Chaffee County gives back to the ranching community financially and encourages them to keep these valuable working lands visually accessible and functional for their operation.