Colorado Species Conservation Partnership Focuses on Landowner and Species Needs

Posted: 18-Feb-2004; Updated: 20-Jun-2007

The state-listed burrowing owl and other declining grassland species are a CSCP priority. (Credit: Copyright Bill Horn.)

Many declining species in Colorado depend largely upon private land for their habitat. With almost two-thirds of Colorado's lands privately owned and in agricultural production, active and willing participation by agricultural producers is essential to preserve such species as Preble's meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei), mountain plover (Charadrius montanus), black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) and Gunnison's sage grouse (Centrocercus minimus). Recognizing how contentious endangered species issues on private land can be, the Colorado Division of Wildlife (Division) created a tool in 2002 to recover these species by building long-term, working relationships with landowners.

The new Colorado Species Conservation Partnership (CSCP) provides a framework for building essential state-landowner partnerships. The key components, the Division found, are providing a consistent funding source; incorporating landowner needs and preferences throughout the process; offering a variety of voluntary, non-regulatory, flexible incentives; and balancing the ecological needs of the species and the economic needs of the agricultural producer. (More on CSCP at its web site.)

The statewide program focuses on fish and wildlife species that are state or federally listed as threatened or endangered, designated by the state as species of special concern or in decline. In its initial year, CSCP will focus upon a few terrestrial species and landscapes that the Division determined as the highest priority: the Gunnison's sage grouse in the Gunnison Valley; the Preble's meadow jumping mouse along the Front Range; and native grassland species such as the black-tailed prairie dog, mountain plover, ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis), burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), swift fox (Vulpes velox) and others inhabiting the shortgrass prairie of the eastern plains. Although the first-year agreements are not yet final, the Division anticipates completing seven projects that will conserve more than 25,000 acres of habitat.

CSCP had its start eight years earlier when the Division recognized the need for a more targeted approach to habitat protection. In the early 1990s, Colorado voters approved using state lottery funds for wildlife, parks and open space, and the state created Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). Despite this consistent funding source, species continued to decline. At the same time, the state's agricultural industry experienced economic downturns, endangering another vital element of the landscape: traditional farming and ranching ways of life. The ultimate conservation challenge was to merge the protection of landscapes and species with the preservation of rural traditions. Rich Larson, the Division's GOCO liaison, explained, "Working with landowners became as critical as preventing the decline of species. You can't do one without the other."

First, the Division identified the state's most critical habitats with the help of The Nature Conservancy, Colorado Natural Heritage Program and Colorado land trusts. Species information was compiled in a centralized database, The Natural Diversity Information Source. These data guided the choice of focus areas for the new program. Meanwhile, Larson and others established a consistent funding source for the program. GOCO benefits habitat protection in Colorado by leveraging dollars from two federal programs: the State Wildlife Grants Program and Landowner Incentive Program. These three sources provide the bulk of the $25 million that will fund CSCP's first three years, and land trusts, other non-profit organizations and participating landowners contribute the rest.

With the biological strategy in place and funding to back it up, the Division began building a comprehensive program for a gamut of landowner needs, agricultural uses and ecological conditions. Landowners control their involvement in the program, determining their management and financial requirements at the start, and then bidding into the program. The Division offers landowners a wide variety of agreements to suit individual needs. Landowners can choose perpetual or term easements with accompanying management agreements, or can simply opt for management agreements or leases of any term length. Although perpetual easements offer the highest level of protection, term easements give the Division an opportunity to build a relationship with the landowner, and often open the door to longer term commitments. The key to all agreements is flexibility. The open framework encourages creative agreements that address specific landowner and wildlife needs. Likely, no two agreements will be the same.

After discussing a potential CSCP project with the Division, the landowner completes a simple form, and the project is ranked against other similar proposals. The ranking process uses biological criteria to ensure real, on-the-ground benefits to the habitat. Landowner willingness is also an important ranking component, with preference given to landowners who are most prepared to work closely with the Division for the long term. A committee of representatives from the GOCO board and the Colorado Wildlife Commission decides which projects will be funded. The entire process takes approximately six months.

Landowners have responded very positively to this approach in the program's first year. Approximately 34 landowners applied in the first round of the application process. The Division continues to work with additional landowners, and many are ready to apply for the second round. It even appears that some initially skeptical landowners have become more accepting of the program.

More information about CSCP is available from Ken Morgan, Colorado Division of Wildlife, 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216, 303-297-1192, or at the Division's web site.

Theodore Toombs
Wildlife Ecologist
Environmental Defense