Colorado Headwaters Land Trust

Colorado Headwaters Land Trust's (formerly Middle Park Land Trust) mission is to preserve and steward open lands within the headwaters of the Colorado River for vistas, wildlife, agriculture and water, in partnership with landowners and for the benefit of all. CHLT, is a state-certified land trust and the only land conservation organization servicing Grand County. We work strategically and opportunistically to conserve critical wildlife habitat, working ranches, threatened view-sheds, vital wetlands and river corridors. CHLT's primary land protection tool is the conservation easement, a voluntary binding legal document between the landowner and the land trust that identifies a property's qualified conservation values (as defined by the IRS regulations) and permanently protects those values by restricting development and other non-compatible uses. The IRS Treasury regulations state that a qualified conservation easement must include one or more of four conservation values. The easement must 1) preserve land for outdoor recreation by, or education of, the general public; 2) protect relatively natural habitat of fish, wildlife or plants; 3) preserve agricultural or scenic open space; or 4) preserve historically important land or structures. Landowners of conservation easement properties are often entitled to federal and state tax benefits while the public benefits from the open space that easements provide, so it's a win-win situation for all involved.