Field Season Comes to a Close in the High Country

Nov. 5, 2021 – It seems like field season began just yesterday, a window of opportunity to get out on the ground in the high country and inspect properties we are working diligently to acquire. Yet, the sight of fresh snow during a recent site visit to one of our favorite places in Colorado – the Weminuche Wilderness — was a reminder that the window is closing.

With the popular Whitehead Trail running through the 30-acre property, this acquisition is a high priority for the Trust. At an elevation above 10,000 feet, it won’t be long before this property is buried in the white stuff, and we were grateful to complete a property inspection with staff from the U.S. Forest Service and an independent professional appraiser. A site visit delay translates to a delay in purchasing the land, and we got to this one in the nick of time.

Each year, we travel across the American west to inspect private inholdings and evaluate what it will take to remove them from the surrounding wilderness. In our soon to be released annual report, we share details of the 667 acres we acquired and more than 1,700 acres we transferred during the past fiscal year. All of which started with a site visit similar to the one we just completed in the Weminuche Wilderness.

Each step of our process, from site visit to purchase to transfer to public ownership, would not happen without the generosity of our supporters. Thank you for providing us with the critical resources to get the job done. We hope you see your own good work reflected in our report.