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May 31, 2001
by Janelle Holden A first-of-its kind conservation easement that protects archaeological resources earned the Montezuma and La Plata land conservancies an award from the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts. The award was presented to the conservancies in Durango on May 18 at the southwest regional conference of the Colorado Land Trusts. The award was for a conservation easement protecting archaeological ruins on Don Dove’s property south of Cortez. Dove’s 110-acre property is believed to be the longest continuously occupied Ancestral Puebloan site in the area, other than Mesa Verde. "The main difference between protecting something like a view or elk habitat is that those types of things can be mitigated, but once these historic things are disturbed, the resource is degraded," explained Kevin Essington, executive director of the Montezuma Land Conservancy. The conservancy is a local non-profit organization that helps landowners with voluntary land conservation. The Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts is an umbrella organization that ensures the integrity of land trusts around the state. It also works with the Colorado governor and the legislature to develop incentives for conservation. Currently the conservancy helps arrange an average of three to four conservation easements a year. "If we really wanted to, we could do more easements than that, but we want to make sure that the ones we do are solid and defensible," explained Essington. Essington, who headed up the conservancy since its inception, is leaving in June to take a position with the Nature Conservancy in Connecticut, but he said that there are many qualified candidates vying to take his place. "The main goal for the conservancy is stability — making sure we’ll be around for a very long time to take care of easements we’re currently arranging," he said. "We want the community to understand when you hear the term ‘land conservancy’ it means a non-governmental approach to conserving open space." Marianne Mate, president of the land-conservancy board, said the conservancy plans to continue working with the agricultural community and further community knowledge about easements. "It’s a conservation tool, one of the many ways to try and control scattered development in the county," said Mate. "But we have to be very aware and respect private property rights as a huge issue in this community. "We’re working hard to partner with other organizations to again offer lots of opportunities for landowners instead of just putting up another development." |
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Copyright © 2001 the Cortez Journal.
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