Vital waterways for wildlife and people
High in Rocky Mountain National Park, the snow and glacial run-off gives birth to the legendary Colorado River. The upper Colorado River corridor provides an invaluable resource for human uses, boasting world-class fly fishing, white water rafting, supplying water for snowmaking at numerous ski resorts and generating electricity at hydroelectric plants throughout the basin. Downstream, the clear, gently flowing river supports irrigated agriculture on both the West Slope and Front Range and bolsters municipal and industrial water supplies for numerous Front Range communities, including Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo.
Colorado Open Lands is play a lead role in this landscape by facilitating a unique partnership of national conservation organizations (The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land) and a number of local partners to help interested landowners permanently conserve 25,000 acres of high-priority private lands and associated water rights in Grand and Eagle Counties over the next 5 years.