Brush Creek Ranch and Open Space
Sustaining Council Level Underwriter:
Anonymous
Guardian Level Underwriter
Anni Davis
Click here for a full map of the property or scroll to the bottom for further details.
Congratulations and thank you to our community and all our partners! The transaction to permanently protect the Hardscrabble Ranch, and add the property to Eagle County’s Open Space Program and Eagle Valley Land Trust conservation easement portfolio has been completed. For a map of the property, click here: EVLT Hardscrabble Ranch Map.
1,540-acre Hardscrabble Ranch in Brush Creek Valley has been permanently conserved by EVLT and its partners.
The 1,540- acre property was conveyed to Eagle County by The Conservation Fund, who acquired the property from a Denver-based developer in July of 2017. A conservation easement was granted to the Eagle Valley Land Trust, ensuring that the property’s agricultural, recreational, natural resource and scenic attributes are forever conserved. The transfer and permanent preservation of the ranch was the result of partnerships which spanned from local residents to the Town of Eagle, Eagle Ranch and the Eagle Valley Land Trust, to The Conservation Fund and Great Outdoors Colorado.
“Given the growth in Eagle, this is the poster child for accessible/approachable conservation that is a win for nature’s flora/fauna and people. Our county residents will be appreciative for decades to come for the foresight of the County Open Space, EVLT and other players who enabled this win.” – David Smith, former EVLT Board Member, current Board Chair of The Nature Conservancy Colorado
Great Outdoors Colorado provided a $3.1 million grant from its Protect Initiative, aimed at funding urgent, once-in- a-lifetime land conservation projects that result in increased access and visibility for the public. The Town of Eagle, Eagle Ranch Wildlife Commission, and Eagle Valley Land Trust all made financial contributions toward the acquisition and preservation of the property.
A management planning effort will begin in 2018 and will consider the desires of the public while working within the parameters established by the conservation easement to allow for continued agricultural use, protection of critical wildlife habitat and preservation of scenic vistas. Recreational amenities will be added over time, including trail connections to adjacent BLM land and a paved trail connection between Salt Creek and the Town of Eagle.
Conservation Easement Information
Date signed: 2017
Acreage: 1,540
Acquired Through: Purchase
Type of Access: Public
Owner: Eagle County
Map & Directions:
Click here.
