| |
The Story of
Mesa Land Trust's 26 Years
Mesa Land Trust (MLT) was conceived in 1980 by local
landowners responding to heightened development pressures in the Grand Valley in
Western Colorado. MLT, then acting under the name of Mesa County Land
Conservancy, began by preserving several small orchards on East Orchard Mesa and
received its first three conservation easements in 1982.
Founding board members included fruit growers and farmers,
and MLT became one of the nation's first land trusts created by agrarians to
protect agricultural lands. For 15 years MLT existed on the faith and hard work
of its volunteer board of directors. Funding came through board member
donations and minor fundraising projects.
Between 1980 and 1995, MLT acquired easements through private
donations of farmland and in cooperation with the Farmers Home Administration.
Eight easements protected property on East Orchard Mesa, in Palisade, Grand
Junction, and the Plateau Valley, totaling over 4,200 acres of land.
After fifteen years as an
all-volunteer organization with an annual budget of a few hundred dollars, MLT,
with the receipt of a grant in 1995, was able to open an office, hire an
administrator, and begin a proactive public outreach program. MLT expanded its
cooperative efforts in joint ventures with The Nature Conservancy and Farmer’s
Home Administration, with funding from Great
Outdoors Colorado
and continued private grants.
 Mesa Land Trust currently
holds 115 conservation easements
protecting over
48,000
acres in the Grand Valley,
Glade Park, and Plateau Valley including farmland, ranchland, wetlands, and
wildlife habitat. MLT has helped Glade Park residents organize into a
cooperative association to protect land and land values in their area and
partners with Mesa County and the towns of Grand Junction, Fruita, and Palisade
to protect working landscapes in the
Mesa County Community Separator
Area, among other projects.
MLT now
employs one full-time executive director, a program assistant, two land
protection specialists, a fundraising associate, a
Colorado Conservation Trust
Fellow, and a bookkeeper. The Board has expanded from five members to
fourteen. As the Grand Valley continues to experience development pressures,
MLT will continue its efforts in educating the public about land preservation
options, working with landowners to meet their individual needs, and maintaining
stewardship of existing conservation easements.
|
