Land Trust History and Summer Events

Speaker 1 0:00

My guest today is Jeremy Krohns . Jeremy is the Executive Director for the Headwaters Land Trust here in Grand County . We talk about the history of the land trust as well as some really fun and unique events that he has going on this summer .

Speaker 2 0:27

So sit back and enjoy .

Speaker 1 0:30

Good morning Jeremy . How are you today ?

Speaker 3 0:33

I'm well , Gaylene . Thank you for having me .

Speaker 1 0:35

You bet . Well , the Land Trust , the Headwaters Land Trust , has a lot of stuff going on this summer . You've got three events , but I want to see if you could first give us a little history about the Land Trust .

Speaker 3 0:48

Sure . So Colorado Headwaters Land Trust was founded almost 30 years ago . We're coming up on our 30th anniversary next year . We were founded as the Grand County Land Conservancy and this was born out of a group of local movers and shakers who wanted to initially protect the Fraser Valley against development . We can see that that did not come to fruition . But 30 years later we are still going strong . So over the last 30 years we've developed into a pretty strong local organization .

Speaker 3 1:20

Our first name , as I said , was the Grand County Land Conservancy . After about five or six years of that we became the Middle Park Land Trust and then , after about 10 years as Middle Park , we changed our name again to Colorado Headwaters , and each name change was precipitated by an event or a conversation that our board was having . But the real goal was to continue to more explicitly narrow our focus . We've only ever worked in Grand County . We are a local land trust , so we only work in Grand County , but calling ourselves the Grand County Land Conservancy . Maybe people thought we were a governmental agency or otherwise affiliated Middle Park Land Trust . Unfortunately there's no hit TV show called Middle Park , so we found after a couple of years that a lot of people just didn't put two and two together , but really no one can argue that the Colorado River starts anywhere but in Grand County , so we felt that this was a safe name .

Speaker 1 2:19

Perfect . Well , how many trusts ? Is that the correct terminology ? Do you have it here in the county Easements ? So we are a land ?

Speaker 3 2:27

trust Yep , and our primary tool of private land conservation is a conservation easement and this is a title document that transfers development and subdivision rights , as well as any other rights that come through negotiation , from the landowner to the land trust . And then we are bound by every level of government , all the wayowner to the land trust , and then we are bound by every level of government , all the way up to the IRS , to never touch those rights . So your property , the land that has a conservation easement on it , is effectively conserved forever . The landowner's responsibility is to uphold their end of the agreement . So they signed a document saying that they would not build a Ferris wheel . My job is to make sure and visit their property once a year to make sure they haven't built a Ferris wheel . So to date we have 66 conservation easements throughout Grand County , totaling 9,310 acres , and these easements range our smallest one is less than a third of an acre up on Shadow Mountain Lake and our largest one is about a thousand acres just south of Granby .

Speaker 1 3:31

That's great for the county .

Speaker 3 3:32

It is yeah .

Speaker 1 3:34

So nice job . So let's go into some of the events that you have going on this summer .

Speaker 3 3:42

Yeah , thank you . So you know our perspective . A lot of people don't know what a land trust is or , if they do , they don't quite understand how we work . But ultimately my goal with a lot of our events is to bring conservation to the people . A lot of people maybe they don't own land or they only own , like me , they only own a yard and a house and so there's not a whole lot to conserve there . But my goal with a lot of our summer events is to make conservation a little more tangible for people who might not otherwise appreciate the land or live on the land in that way . So our three big and now annual summer events Our first one is the Hot Sulphur Run .

Speaker 3 4:21

This is something that we brought back last year and I think it used to be called the Hot Sulphur Suffer or other names for a fun run .

Speaker 3 4:30

It's always on the weekend of Hot Sulphur Days , which is the first summer festival in the county for the towns . This year we are partnering with the Sweetheart City Racing , which is a family business out of Loveland , and they do all of the races in and around Loveland , and this year they're starting to branch out into the mountains . So it was a really nice , nice matchup that we made . This will be a six kilometer , so it's a little bit more than a 5K , so everyone can set their own personal record on this one through the town of Hot Sulphur , starting at the Pioneer Village Museum and then going up onto what's called Heinbaugh Gulch or the Jones Creek Ranch Conservation Easement . This is one of our recent easements . The land is owned by the town of Hot Sulphur Springs and there's a beautiful trail that's on it and you can really get a really good view of that part of the county . The run will be on Sunday , june 9th , starting in the morning .

Speaker 3 5:26

But if you go to our website , you can find registration and more information there . Like I said , we are partnering with Sweetheart City Racing , and so they're doing a lot of the coordination , but if you want to participate , run or walk or sponsor , you just give me a holler .

Speaker 1 5:41

And I have to say it's Heimann Gulch , is that right ?

Speaker 3 5:44

Heimbalg .

Speaker 1 5:45

Heimbalg Gulch . I hiked that last week because it was an area that was dry in the county and it's great that is so pretty up there .

Speaker 3 5:55

It's a gorgeous piece of land , yeah , and it's under multi-use , so there might be cattle grazing out there under lease . You'll see a lot of good wildlife , some water . It's a really beautiful part of the county and we're very proud to have protected it .

Speaker 1 6:09

Nice . Okay , let's go on to the second event .

Speaker 3 6:12

Yeah , our second one is the Wildflower Walk , also on Heimbach Gulch , which is , like I said , in Hot Sulphur Springs . This is our I think our fourth year doing this walk , and this is just so if you ever go out and about in the county this summer , you can brag to your friends that you know what a certain flower is or what you're looking at . We've moved this event around . The first couple of years we tried it , we tried it in the Fraser Valley , we tried it earlier in the summer , later in the summer , and we finally realized that late June and hot sulfur is kind of a perfect time to do this walk . We have two local ecologists , doreen Summerlin and Mike Crosby . They come out and they lead the group on a walk on these trails on the conservation easement , to show you what you're going to be looking at . That will be on Sunday , june 23rd . Registration is required because we don't want a big group out there and that one is not on our website yet but will be very shortly .

Speaker 1 7:08

And I have to say Doreen's been on this podcast quite a few times , but she is so good about her flowers .

Speaker 2 7:18

Yeah , she's really great .

Speaker 1 7:20

Yeah , we have to do a lesson every season , that's right .

Speaker 3 7:26

Well , and you know , I've worked in professional conservation for a long time . But I always have to remind my friends and supporters who want to meet with me that I approach conservation from the social science side , not from the ecology side . So don't ask me to identify flowers . I do have Doreen's phone number , so if you need to know I can call her .

Speaker 1 7:48

That's great , okay , and I really love this last event that you're doing .

Speaker 3 7:53

Yeah , and I agree this is one of my favorites . This is our Songs and Stars event also our fourth year doing it and it's an annual stargazing event . We started in the Fraser Valley and then last year moved to Grand Lake , mainly because the event was getting so big we didn't have a really good venue to host everybody and have this party . And also this year we're moving it a week later . So this year it'll be on Saturday , August 17th , as part of Buffalo Days , which is the Town of Grand Lakes annual festival , and this event started as a way to teach people the benefits of conservation beyond just what you might see on the trail or you see when you're out and about during the day , but the benefits of land conservation to the night sky , and so we talk about the constellations and the planets and any type of celestial goings on , that we might see meteor showers or something , but then also talk about light pollution and how that affects wildlife and how that affects us . So at this event it's always a catered dinner and some music . Some local musicians will come and play . I do a presentation on what I do here at the Land Trust and then some of the benefits of land conservation to the night sky . And then I turn it over to Dave Schlichting and his crew at the Grand County Astronomy Club . These are great , great folks . They always bring out their telescopes and they talk about what we're seeing . It is August , so it's a late night . Sun doesn't set until about nine o'clock , but it's a really fun time if you can get out there .

Speaker 3 9:25

This year I know I've thrown a lot of new information out , but I will say this year it's also at the Shadowcliff Mountain Lodge in Grand Lake , which will be the first time that we have an event there , but we're really excited . It's a beautiful venue overlooking the lake and some really great night sky showings . And then , lastly , something also special about this year with relation to Buffalo Days . Another partner on the event is the town of Grand Lake , because they are on a campaign to be dark sky designated and I'm on the steering committee for that and I know that you just had , was it Kim , who was on the podcast just last week . So it's and it's a great campaign and this event will count as one of their educational events . For this , they're required to have a number of public education events throughout the year and other materials that they produce to talk about dark sky designation for the town of Grand Lake . So that will be on Saturday , august 17th , and that registration is not yet up , but mark your calendars .

Speaker 1 10:24

Jeremy , is there fees for any of these events ?

Speaker 3 10:27

Yep , so for the run there will be a fee , as well as for stargazing . So for the run there will be a fee , as well as for stargazing . Wildflower Walk is free , that one . We just ask that you do register and we do cap it up 30 people , just because it gets a little untenable past that .

Speaker 1 10:40

So you said some of these events are on your website , right ?

Speaker 3 10:43

now .

Speaker 1 10:44

People find out more information .

Speaker 3 10:46

Sure , ColoradoHeadwatersLandTrustorg . It's all spelled out . You can Google it or just type that in and you'll find it on the front page . We have a little calendar and then you can go to the events page to learn more . We are also on Facebook , Instagram and LinkedIn , all with the tag CO Headwaters LT , and you can get to those from our website as well .

Speaker 1 11:06

And you also have a great newsletter that I really enjoy getting .

Speaker 3 11:09

Oh , thank you yeah if you go to our website , we do have a pop-up that you can register . I send one email a month , outside of special event emails , and I need to say that over the summer because we do , do you know , leading up to an event we'll send out little pushes to register . But yeah , I send out one email a month talking about upcoming events , any news if the land trust or conservation is in local news and any other community events that you might want

Appreciation for Conversation in Granby

Speaker 3 11:37

to know .

Speaker 1 11:37

Jeremy , I appreciate your time today and everything you do . If I had land here , I would put it in easement . Well , thank you very much .

Speaker 3 11:46

I appreciate it . And if anyone wants to come and hang out in person , my office is here in downtown Granby on First Street . So if you turn right at the light , we're right next to the Blue Credit Union .

Speaker 1 11:55

And drive by Pi .

Speaker 3 11:58

And drive by Pi .

Speaker 1 11:59

Yes , well , jeremy , thank you again , and I look forward to seeing you at some of these events .

Speaker 3 12:05

Thank you so much , Kayleen .

Speaker 2 12:07

Thanks for watching .