Sue Swift-Miller, BLM; Jenifer Christman, DU; Mack Crowther, landowner; Rio de la Vista, DU; Bill Miller, BLM
MONTE VISTA, Col. – The Crowther family has a 60-year history of managing land for wildlife. When they wanted to ensure the land’s continued protection, Ducks Unlimited (DU) was their chosen easement holder. Last month, DU, the Crowthers and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an instrumental partner in the project, celebrated the closing of a conservation easement on 420 acres of wetland and riparian habitat in Conejos County, Colorado.
“Partnerships with private landowners like the Crowthers are critical to wetland habitat protection in Colorado,” said Jenifer Christman, Colorado manager of conservation programs for DU. “More than 75 percent of Colorado’s wildlife species depend on wetlands during some stage of their life cycle. Unfortunately, the state has lost more than 50 percent of its historic wetland areas.”
Protection of the Crowther parcel will benefit a number of waterfowl and waterbird species, especially bald eagles and the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a candidate for threatened or endangered species status found nowhere else in the San Luis Valley. The area also supports one of the highest recorded densities of Southwest Willow Flycacther in the Valley, an important federally listed endangered species. The Crowther’s management of their agriculutral operations for conservation compliments current activities on adjacent public and private lands.
The Crowther ranch lies on the Conejos River, six miles from its confluence with the Rio Grande, and immediately east of the BLM’s McIntyre/Simpson Wetland Area, one of the largest blocks of contiguous wetland habitat in Colorado.
To date, DU has protected more than 14,000 acres in the San Luis Valley through conservation easements. The Crowther’s decision to protect their land with an easement is an important component of DU’s goal to protect more than 45,000 acres of critical wetland habitat in Colorado by 2013 through conservation easements and land acquisitions. The Crowther conservation easement, DU’s first along the Conejos River, was funded through the North American Wetland Conservation Act grant program and the BLM was an instrumental partner to DU in crafting the deal.
The Crowther parcel’s location next to the BLM’s McIntyre/Simpson Wetland Area makes it a critical component of this wetland complex. The area includes more than 1,000 acres that is the epicenter of wintering waterfowl activity in this portion of the San Luis Valley. Protection of the 420-acre Crowther parcel will maintain this essential habitat, provide for surface and subsurface flow of water for wetlands on the parcel and adjacent protected properties, and increase the size of wetlands protected by DU in the San Luis Valley.
“The BLM feels very fortunate to have the Crowthers as our neighbors,” said Sue Swift-Miller, a wetland biologist for the San Luis Valley BLM. “The protection of this unique property will allow this important riparian area to remain intact, and continue to provide phenomenal wildlife values. We appreciate the commitment to conservation that the Crowthers have made and look forward to continuing our strong working relationship into the future.”
With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands - nature’s most productive ecosystem - and continues to lose more than 80,000 wetland acres each year.
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