A. Land, Water, and Wildlife Protection Program

Through its public process GOCO learned the protection of river corridors is a priority for Coloradans. These corridors provide rich and diverse terrestrial and aquatic habitats, public and privately owned open space corridors, and recreational opportunities; these projects also afford the opportunity to integrate these aspects of GOCO’s mission.

Objectives and approaches to achieve protection of important river corridors:

Objective: Support the assessment of and strategies to protect important river corridors.

Planning and Capacity Building. Award grants to local governments, state agencies and/or nonprofit organizations for the assessment, identification, and protection of important river corridors.

Objective: Support land, water and wildlife protection efforts that are compatible with outdoor recreational uses of river corridors.

Acquisitions. Award grants for:

• Purchase of lands and conservation easements for open space, wildlife habitat, agricultural lands and recreational corridors.
• Purchase of water for instream flows that benefit recreation and/or wildlife habitat.
• Purchase of easements for recreational access and trails.
• Transaction costs associated with the donation of easements, long-term management agreements and/or the donation of instream flows.
• Habitat improvements on public lands and cost-sharing grants for private lands.

Objective: Provide for the long-term stewardship of lands acquired with GOCO funding.

Stewardship. Consider grants to accomplish stewardship activities on lands acquired in part with GOCO funds.

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Through its public process GOCO learned the long-term viability of Coloradoís remarkable diversity of native species is a priority for Coloradans. These species provide a truly natural legacy that is at risk due to conversion of land to other uses and loss of habitats. Unique habitats have been identified that present protection opportunities -- those areas of the state that provide the most biologically rich, but threatened, landscapes.

Objectives and approaches to achieve protection of unique Natural Areas and wildlife habitats:

Objective: Support efforts to create and strengthen local partnerships to help achieve land protection strategies within important conservation areas.

Planning and Capacity Building. Award grants to local governments, state agencies and non-profit organizations to identify, develop, and/or and refine specific land protection strategies within important conservation areas. Award grants to state and local nonprofit land trusts and local governments to develop and expand their capacity to assist in the protection of important conservation areas.

Objective: Support land, water and wildlife protection strategies that protect habitats.

Acquisitions. Award grants for:

• Acquisition of lands in fee title and acquisition of conservation easements in perpetuity.
• Transaction costs associated with the donation of easements.
• Acquisition of long-term leases and management agreements (land and/or water).
• Acquisition of water/in-stream flows or fund transaction costs associated with management agreements or the donation of flows.
• Restoration and enhancement of public and private lands by awarding cost-sharing grants for private landowners to make habitat improvements and by awarding grants for habitat improvements on public lands, such as State Wildlife Areas, State Parks, Natural Areas, and federal lands.

Objective: Provide for the long-term stewardship of lands acquired with GOCO funding.

Stewardship. Consider grants to accomplish stewardship activities on lands acquired in part with GOCO funds.

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Through its public process GOCO learned that, in certain areas of the state, protecting the unique identity and character of communities through the establishment of open space corridors and greenbelts is a priority.

Objectives and approaches to achieve protection of community separators:

Objective: Support and strengthen local partnerships that result in local strategies to establish and protect community separators.

Planning and Capacity Building. Award grants to local governments and nonprofit partners to foster cooperation and collaboration between and among local governments, identify priority community separators and develop site-specific protection strategies. Award grants to local governments and nonprofit partners to ensure their capacity to assist in the identification and protection of community separators.

Acquisitions. Award grants for the purchase of lands and conservation easements for open space, recreation, and agricultural lands within community separators.

Objective: Provide for the long-term stewardship of lands acquired with GOCO funding.

Stewardship. Consider grants to accomplish stewardship activities on lands acquired in part with GOCO funds.

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Through its public process GOCO learned that securing recreation lands now so that future generations can enjoy the same or higher level of outdoor recreational opportunities we enjoy today is a priority to Coloradans.

Objectives and approaches to achieve protection of land for future parks and outdoor recreation:

Objective: Support efforts to identify needs and sites for future park and outdoor recreation.

Planning. Award grants to DPOR and local governments to identify and develop priorities for future local parks and State Parks and Recreation Areas.

Objective: Secure land for future state and local parks and outdoor recreation areas.

Acquisitions. Award grants for the purchase of:

• Lands or water in fee title for public park and outdoor recreation use.
• Land or easements for trails.
• Leases on land or water for future outdoor recreation use.

Objective: Provide for the long-term stewardship of lands acquired by DPOR with GOCO funding.

Stewardship. Consider grants to accomplish stewardship activities on lands acquired in part with GOCO funds.

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Through its public process GOCO learned that the protection of agricultural lands is a priority to Coloradans because of the benefits they provide for wildlife habitat, open space, scenic view corridors, and/or community separators and because of their contribution to maintaining a working landscape.

Objectives and approaches to achieve protection of strategic agricultural lands:

Objective: Assist in the identification of strategic agricultural lands.

Planning and Capacity Building. Facilitate planning by convening agricultural, governmental, nonprofit and other interests to help assess and identify strategic agricultural areas of the state. Award grants to develop and/or refine strategies for the protection of strategic agricultural lands and to local, regional and statewide agricultural organizations to ensure their capacity to assist in the protection of strategic agricultural lands.

Objective: Assist in efforts to protect strategic agricultural lands. Strategic agricultural lands are key to both GOCO’s mission and to the scale and viability of agriculture in a region.

Conservation easements and leases. Award grants for:

• Acquisition of agricultural conservation easements.
• Transaction costs for the donation of conservation easements on properties where landowners cannot afford them.
• Acquisition of long-term leases on lands that provide significant open space, wildlife, recreation and/or scenic values.

Objective: Provide for the long-term stewardship of lands preserved with GOCO funding.

Voluntary Stewardship. Encourage stewardship activities which further GOCO objectives on agricultural properties where conservation easements are acquired.

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