Estes Valley Land Trust wins $25,000 in grants

ESTES PARK — Two grants worth a total of $25,000 have been awarded to the Estes Valley Land Trust, part of $206,000 in grants announced this week by Keep It Colorado and the Land Trust Alliance.

The grants, awarded to land trusts and conservation nonprofits, are designed to help them to reinforce and build programs to create a stronger conservation sector and advance the organizations through leadership development, accreditation, education and collaboration.

The Estes Valley Land Trust received an organizational development grant worth $15,000 to “develop a new strategic plan and invest in a customer relationship management system to improve operations and donor relations,” according to a news release. The strategic plan will be built from the open-space plan it completed in 2020.

It also was awarded a community-centered conservation grant worth $10,000 “to strengthen relationships with organizations and individuals that support conserving a local cultural site,” according to the news release. “EVLT will work directly with partners including those that serve Indigenous communities, youth and people with disabilities to conserve the natural and cultural values of the property and provide managed and sustainable public access and education.”

A spokeswoman for the land trust told BizWest on Thursday she could not yet identify the cultural site because negotiations with the landowner are still underway.

After participating in a competitive application process, the Estes Valley Land Trust was selected as one of 15 land trusts and conservation nonprofits to receive awards to support 20 projects. Investments from Great Outdoors Colorado funded this initiative through Keep It Colorado’s Emerging Conservation Opportunities program.

Organizations that receive grant awards seek to expand their work and missions to engage more communities in community-centered conservation and ensure that all Coloradans benefit equitably from land conservation while sustaining their organizations’ capacity to conserve and protect land.

“These investments, made possible by support from Great Outdoors Colorado, help ensure that the conservation community is well-equipped to create a lasting conservation movement that serves all Coloradans,” Beth Conover, interim executive director for Keep It Colorado, said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to the benefits these grants will bring to our members and their communities and extend our gratitude to the Land Trust Alliance for their partnership in facilitating the program.”

Other 2025 organizational development grantees included:

• Aspen Valley Land Trust (Carbondale): Financial health review and improvement.
• Central Colorado Conservancy (Salida): Implementing a capital expansion and sustainability roadmap.
• Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (Denver): Strategic engagement video campaign for 30th anniversary year.
• Colorado West Land Trust (Grand Junction): Developing structure and strategy for an expanding organization.
• Crested Butte Land Trust (Crested Butte): Contract a development consultant to increase fundraising.
• High Line Canal Conservancy (Centennial): Easement stewardship support.
• La Plata Open Space Conservancy (Durango): Harnessing the power of AI and GIS technologies for monitoring and conservation outreach.
• Montezuma Land Conservancy (Cortez): Transforming a weedy lot into a community plot.
• Mountain Area Land Trust (Evergreen): Master planning of Sacramento Creek Ranch.
• Palmer Land Conservancy (Colorado Springs): Creating a water conservation blueprint.
• Southern Plains Land Trust (Lamar): Strategic, flagship-based communications Approach.

Other community-centered conservation grantees included:

• Aspen Valley Land Trust (Carbondale): Activating Coffman Ranch public access.
• Colorado Open Lands (Lakewood): Evaluation of the conservation leadership series to promote community-centered programs.
• Crested Butte Land Trust (Crested Butte): Connecting community to conservation.
• Eagle Valley Land Trust (Edwards): Community-centered conservation programming with historically underrepresented affinity groups.
• High Line Canal Conservancy (Centennial): Northeast Advisory Committee conservation education and engagement.
• Montezuma Land Conservancy (Cortez): Advancing agriculture, recreation and conservation programming.
• Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust (Del Norte): Engaging and strengthening community relationships within the San Luis Valley.

Keep It Colorado’s Emerging Conservation Opportunities program is designed to advance land conservation and support a thriving land conservation sector. Great Outdoors Colorado’s multi-year commitment of investments is allocated among distinct focus areas to respond to the conservation community’s highest priority needs and opportunities.

In 2022, Keep It Colorado partnered with the Land Trust Alliance to provide programming in response to increased demand from the land-trust community for support advancing organizational work. Learning that land trusts are highly dedicated to expanding their work and missions to support community-centered conservation and sustain their efforts as organizations of excellence in conservation, the partnership has focused on providing support in these areas.

Community-centered conservation grants focus on projects aimed at increasing equity in land conservation in Colorado, where organizational development grants offer funding for projects designed to advance organizational excellence, develop leadership, support accreditation, provide education and empower effective advocacy. Between 2023 and 2025, more than $500,000 in grants have assisted 17 organizations with funding for 45 projects — 25 focused on organizational development and 20 focused on community-centered conservation.

Founded in 1982, the Washington, D.C.-based Land Trust Alliance is a national land conservation organization working to save the places people need and love by empowering and mobilizing land trusts in communities across America to conserve land for the benefit of all. The Alliance represents approximately 1,000 member land trusts and affiliates supported by more than 250,000 volunteers and 6.3 million members nationwide.

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