EVLT Receives Statewide Land Stewardship Award

The Jane Silverstein Ries Foundation has announced that the Eagle Valley Land Trust is the recipient of the 2012 JSR Award. The JSR Foundation presented the award to the Eagle Valley Land Trust in recognition of the Trust’s pioneering sense of environmental awareness and stewardship of land use values in the Rocky Mountain Region. The JSR Foundation is the charitable arm of the Colorado Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The JSR Award was presented to the Eagle Valley Land Trust by incoming JSR Foundation President, John Birkey, at a banquet and awards ceremony on December 11, 2012 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Denver.

The JSR Foundation is named in memory of Jane Silverstein Ries, the first woman to pursue a career in landscape architecture in Colorado and a pioneer in the field. Ms. Silverstein Ries was a strong voice in issues of land use and fought to conserve prairie, mountain landscapes, wildlife and urban spaces. The JSR Foundation’s mission to embrace the spirit of place ensures that her legacy of land stewardship and sustainability lives on. The Foundation annually recognizes a Colorado-based organization who is leading the way in environmental activism, land stewardship and land use awareness.

In 2012, the Eagle Valley Land Trust completed five new conservation easements in the greater Edwards area, consisting of over 350 acres of publicly accessible land, including over 5 miles of trails systems and over a mile of Eagle River frontage. In addition, the Land Trust and its conservation partners successfully received approval for completion of the historic Eagle Valley Land Exchange, a multi-agency land swap with several land owners including the US Forest Service, which will conserve and protect 1,500 acres in Eagle County. The Land Trust also embarked upon a comprehensive educational outreach program in 2012 to connect people to the land through family friendly events, workshops and volunteer work days at various local conservation easements. The JSR Foundation recognized these major accomplishments by the Eagle Valley Land Trust over the past year with the presentation of their 2012 JSR Award.

The Eagle Valley Land Trust was founded in 1981 as a non-profit land trust with the mission to preserve forever the scenic views, opens spaces, historic lands, waterways and wildlife habitat that contribute to the character and quality of life in our community. To date, the Land Trust has participated in the conservation of over 10,000 acres in the Rocky Mountain region. They hold 24 conservation easements and annually steward and monitor nearly 7,000 acres of protected land within Eagle County.