AVLT helped Pitkin County acquire a three-acre parcel along the Rio Grande Trail above Upper River Road from Hal French, giving the County better access to the trail and preventing development that would block the view of the river from the trail.

Storm King Mountain provides the dramatic backdrop to west Glenwood Springs. Where fire once burned, a conservation easement now protects vital elk habitat and the stunning views on the 126-acre Stormking Hunting Ranch owned by Fred Inglehart, Mark Sills, and Jack Sills.

David and Patty Harris preserved their beautiful parcel of undisturbed riparian habitat on the Roaring Fork River near the Westbank Bridge.

Lucille Fisher and her family (Ron, Roger, Jack and Judy) donated a conservation easement on their land near the western boundary of Glenwood Springs that stretches from the Old Cardiff bridge to Three Mile Road and adjoins to BLM land above. From the family homestead you are likely to see bear, mountain lions, deer, elk and wild turkeys and bald eagles!

Continuing their tradition of conservation on the fabulous Crystal Island Ranch at the base of Mt. Sopris, Richard and Debbie Jelinek added 105 more acres to their existing easements conserving a total of 433 acres.

AVLT has received several conservation easements on agricultural properties in the beautiful Dry Hollow area just south of Silt. This area, determined by the Colorado Division of Wildlife to be critical wildlife habitat, is facing increasing development and heavy oil and gas exploration.

Landowners who’ve helped to preserve land in Dry Hollow this year include: Renny and Judy Schoonmaker, who last year placed a conservation easement on part of their Kinstead Ranch, and this year added another 90 acres to the easement, bringing their conserved total to 194 acres. The adjacent 142-acre Morris Ranch was also conserved this year making a total area of 336 acres of protected land between County Road 331 and BLM land. One mile to the north, Tom and Sandy Lloyd placed 110 acres of their 7H Ranch under easement. The total conserved acreage in this section of Dry Hollow, including previous easements donated by Don Price, is now over 880 acres adjacent to many more acres of public open space!

The Crawford family added acreage to their 2003 easement that now protects a total of 116 acres above El Jebel. The property provides highly valuable fish and wildlife habitat with its natural shrubland and pinyon-juniper habitat interspersed with hayfields, reservoirs, wetlands and a stretch of Blue Creek.

Maci and Mike Berkeley donated a conservation easement on 40 acres of agricultural land and wetlands on their ranch in Spring Valley that eliminates 21 lots of an approved subdivision. The donation will preserve the open space vistas of upper Spring Valley and provide important migratory bird and waterfowl habitat.

AVLT received a second conservation easement donation on the Colorado River Preserve outside of Rifle that creates a 188 acre protected corridor of crucial riparian habitat on the Colorado, including two large islands.

Turnover on the Board of Directors: In December of 2004 we said good-bye to three long time board members and welcomed three energetic folks to our ranks.
AVLT President Kit Strang stepped down at the end the year having served on the boards of WCAHF and AVLT for over six years and as president of both. Kit and her husband Mike have ranched in the Carbondale area since 1960. In addition to her tireless commitment to conservation through board service, in 2003 Kit and Mike began the process of preserving their 450-acre cattle and horse ranch with their first conservation easement preserving spectacular open space and views of stunning Mt. Sopris. They also hosted AVLT’s Save the Land Dance - a huge success in large part due to the party’s beautiful location and the welcoming reputation of the Strangs!

Chelsea Congdon departs the AVLT board after three years of dedicated service. Chelsea is a Colorado native and a producer/director with First Light Films, an independent film company focusing on environmental and social issues. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Trust for Public Land in Colorado and is co-chair of the Board of Directors of COMPASS. Also reaching the end of his term is Mark Devlin, the longest-standing member of the AVLT Board having joined us in 1998! He is a financial advisor and an insurance agent and he served as AVLT’s treasurer for over two years.

And we welcome our three newest board members, who officially took office in January. Cathy Porter has been working as a financial analyst and commercial lender for the past 8 years and is currently Assistant Vice President with Vectra Banks in Aspen. In addition to her financial acumen, she brings experience in land conservation from her work with the Nature Conservancy in Boulder. Sandy Jackson is taking over her father’s seat on the AVLT board as she also takes over the management of the family ranch in Glenwood. Sandy teaches anthropology/archaeology, outdoor studies and Spanish for Colorado Mountain College and her courses have taken her on many fabulous trips around the country and the world. Louis Meyer is a Professional Civil Engineer and the President of Schmueser Gordon Meyer. Mr. Meyer's professional expertise is with water and wastewater engineering. He is a board member of Sunlight Mountain Resort, Advocate Safehouse, SGM Springs Center Properties, Granby/ Silver Creek Water Authority, a member of the Carbondale Rotary Club, and is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum.

More and more donors are realizing the benefit of donating shares of stock rather than cash to charitable organizations, and AVLT has just made it easier. We have a dedicated account set up through Merrill Lynch to receive these shares directly. Just visit www.avlt.org/sitepages/pid25.php for instructions on how to give.

We also now accept credit card donations over a secure internet server via Network for Good - 3% of each donation goes to Network for Good (www.networkforgood.org) while the rest goes directly to AVLT. Donating is easy: go to www.avlt.org and click on "Donate Now". Thank you to everyone who has helped support us over the years - we are forever grateful!

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