Estes Valley Land Trust
Conservation easements that keep nearly 10,000 valley acres open for good
- (970) 577-6837
- evlandtrust.org
- 1191 Woodstock Dr, Estes Park
- Open now · closes 4pm
About
Nearly 10,000 acres around the valley stay open because of work this land trust has done with private landowners over more than 30 years. The tool is the conservation easement: a voluntary legal agreement that permanently limits what can happen on a piece of land while the owner keeps it and keeps using it. One easement might allow a single house and still let the land grow crops.
The Estes Valley Open Space Plan, built from community surveys and meetings, sets the next target at another 5,000 acres in ten years. With millions of visitors a year pressing on the same meadows and elk range, the trust is also raising a Perpetuity Fund endowment, aiming at $5 million, so it can keep operating indefinitely.
The office is on Woodstock Drive near the fairgrounds, next door to the Estes Valley Watershed Coalition, and keeps short midweek hours. Landowners weighing an easement should start there. Everyone else can volunteer, join or turn up at an event.
