Background
The Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy (GRCL) was started in 1996 by two individuals with different backgrounds but similar concerns and objectives for protecting agricultural lands in their area: Bill Trampe, an area rancher, and Susan Lohr, the former director of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Together, they began investigating the opportunities and services that a traditional land trust might offer ranch families. In the end, they realized that the best way to protect agriculture was to keep families on the land by raising the funds necessary to purchase conservation easements.
The GRCL is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The GRCL does not hold easements itself. Rather, it acts as an intermediary organization for conservation-minded landowners. Services offered by the GRCL include helping landowners assess their needs, finding an appropriate land trust, obtaining funding to pay for conservation easements, and completing legal and technical aspects of the transactions.
Goals
1. Be a resource to landowners, working with them to accomplish their land preservation goals and educating them about various conservation options.
2. Remain at all times a grassroots organization, driven by the expressed conservation needs of the landowners themselves.
3. Maintain good relationships with donors and grantors to our organization.
4. Educate the general public about the importance of agricultural land preservation.
5. Be creative and innovative in applying agricultural land preservation techniques.
6. Improve opportunities for the continuity of ranching business from one generation to the next.
Results
As of December 31, 2009, the GRCL has permanently protected 16,535 acres in the Gunnison Valley by facilitating the placement of conservation easements.
