When the habitat stamp program was implemented, many hunters complained about the additional $5-$10 a year it would cost them. Now we are starting to see the benefits of the program.
Nothing to grouse about
Recent purchases by DOW will help protect habitat for grouse species
By DAVE BUCHANAN
The Daily Sentinel
Sunday, November 11, 2007
A major land purchase in Gunnison County that preserves critical wildlife habitat and eventually will offer public access to hunters is the most recent of several acquisitions the Colorado Division of Wildlife is making with funds from the state’s wildlife habitat stamp.
The Division recently acquired the Miller Ranch, a century-old family holding of 1,600 acres about 10 miles north of Gunnison that provides vital winter habitat for deer, elk and breeding grounds for Gunnison sage grouse, a chicken-sized bird tiptoeing the line of the Endangered Species Act.
“This ranch is possibly the most important purchase the DOW will ever make to maintain Gunnison sage grouse habitat,” said Tom Spezze, southwest regional manager for the DOW. “The Ohio Creek Valley is the heart of the core population for the bird. This is a very important area for the DOW to continue its work on Gunnison sage grouse conservation.”
Similarly, the Division’s Northwest Region recently announced purchasing a conservation easement on more than 2,000 acres of private land north of Meeker, a region under the gun for energy development.
The Lunney Ranch will remain in private hands but now is protected with a perpetual easement on land that stretches from 6,800 feet to 8,500 feet, a span that includes habitat for wildlife big and small, including Columbian sharp-tailed grouse.
“This is the kind of exceptional habitat that sportsmen want to protect for the future of Colorado’s wildlife resource,” explained Ron Velarde, DOW regional manager for northwest Colorado. “While this easement specifically protects valuable sharp-tailed grouse habitat, the easement also protects habitat for lots of other wildlife.”
DOW biologists report that along with the grouse, more than 500 elk and 100 mule deer winter on the Lunney property and thousands more use the ranch as a key migration route.
Both purchases were funded in part by lottery proceeds from Great Outdoors Colorado. The Yampa Valley Land Trust played a major in role in the Lunney easement.
Sportsmen have been paying into the habitat stamp account for several years and now the Division has enough money accrued to make a difference. That, plus a recent push by the Colorado Wildlife Commission to become more active has spurred these and other soon-to-be-announced acquisitions, Velarde said.
“We were directed by the wildlife commission to get more active because we wanted to make sure our sportsmen know that the habitat stamp money was going to big-game winter range or protecting migration routes,” Velarde said. “But it’s not a simple task. Those transactions can take anywhere from 18 to 26 months to accomplish, so we have to be patient.”
Both the Miller Ranch and the Lunney Ranch are key acquisitions in the DOW’s race to stay ahead of development. Gunnison County is going through a building spurt thanks in part to the increased interest in Crested Butte Ski Area.
The Miller Ranch is adjacent to a high-end development of 35-acre, $1-million lots sprinkled with starter castles, and the Millers said they already had been approached by speculators trying to buy the ranch.
“We didn’t want to see it sold to developers,” said Carl Miller, who still lives on the family ranch that was homesteaded in 1902. “This is what we grew up with, this is what we love and this is what we want it to continue to be. This ranch has been in our family for seven generations. We know the DOW will sustain the beauty of the land for generations to come.”
Because the ranch offers critical habitat for the Gunnison sage grouse, said Spezze, and while access is important, the wildlife comes first.
“Access is going to be a key component as we work on the management plan for the property,” Spezze said Thursday. “But first we’ll want to make sure the wildlife components that are the reason we bought the ranch won’t be compromised.”
The purchase adds to the 5,310 acres of Ohio Creek Valley land already protected in a conservation program, according to Chris Dickey of the Gunnison Country Times.
In 2003, the state purchased a conservation easement on the 4,733-acre Ochs Ranch near the confluence of Ohio Creek and the Gunnison River.
The $6.5-million Miller purchase was split equally between the Division and GOCO. According to the DOW, Great Outdoors Colorado has invested heavily in preserving agricultural properties in Gunnison County because of the wildlife habitat and scenic viewsheds they provide.
To date, GOCO has awarded grants totaling $15 million for land preservation in the Gunnison area.
Since June 2006, the DOW has spent about $14 million on securing wildlife habitat throughout Colorado, Spezze said.
“The DOW promised sportsmen and the people of Colorado that we would secure important parcels for wildlife with the habitat stamp money,” he said. “Now we’re starting to deliver on that promise.”
