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Yesterday, Governor Jared Polis announced Colorado's newest state park, a previously privately-owned ranch close to the city of Trinidad, near the New Mexico border. Set to be be opened to the public in January of 2021, the park will feature trails and other visitor services, and is expected to be a new economic driver in the region. It will also be an important wildlife corridor, providing continuous protected land connecting to northern New Mexico for elk, mule deer, black bears, and many other species.
The land acquisition came from a partnership between the the state of Colorado, the city of Trinidad, the Nature Conservancy, and the Trust for Public Land. "Looking at those two nonprofits, one with a focus on conservation and another with a focus on recreation, combining those two with a city, a county, a state... it's a partnership that's just a great model to explore everywhere," said Dan Gibbs, executive director of Colorado's Department of Natural Resources.
As the Trump administration tries to open up our public land to oil and gas drilling and push its anti-conservation agenda, this is an example of states stepping up to protect and provide access to public lands.
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After this week's sale and the one in December, there will be very few unleased parcels between Canyons of the Ancients and Bears Ears [national monuments]. We don't think that's appropriate for America's most dense archeological area, to be completely leased with no planning and no tribal input and at odds with all the data we have from that area.”
