Palmer Land Trust's Public Open Space Initiative
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Palmer Land Trust's Public Open
Space Initiative continues the legacy left by Palmer Land Trust
namesake, General William Jackson Palmer, who gave more than 2,000 acres of
parks, bridle and foot paths, and tree-lined streets to the City of Colorado
Springs. Palmer Land Trust holds eleven conservation easements on public city
and county properties, providing permanent protection for lands that offer area
residents open space and recreational opportunities.
These properties include:
City of
Bluestem Prairie Open Space (Surrounding Big Johnson Reservoir, Widefield)
Sinton Pond
Open Space
(Central
CS, East of junction of
Stratton
Open Space (West
CS near
Tudor Trail & Greenway
(North
Central CS along Monument Creek)
City of Manitou Springs
Christian
Open Space
(City
of
Paint
Mines Interpretative Park (
Parkview / Schreder Property (North end of
Catamount
Ranch Resource Protection Area (Northwest
side of
Why, you might ask, does a city or county need a conservation easement on a publicly owned and managed open space park? The answer is that one of Colorado's largest funding sources for open space acquisition, the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund (GOCO), provides funding for the purchase of these properties on the condition that a conservation easement be placed on the property. Additionally, GOCO mandates that certain terms become part of the conservation easement in order to further protect its financial investment in the property. GOCO is primarily a funding organization that does not have the personnel capacity that is necessary to annually visit the many properties that it has helped purchase. Therefore, GOCO turns to land trusts, like the Palmer Land Trust, to steward the land on an annual basis. Palmer Land Trust's responsibilities are essentially outlined in the conservation easement relative to each public property.