Keep It Colorado

🌟 We Did It – Thanks to You! 🌟 This Colorado Gives Day, we were humbled by the generosity of our incredible supporters. Together, we raised over $10,800, unlocking a $10,000 matching gift from John & Betsy Cochran! 💚 🎉 Congratulations to our prize giveaway winners! - Anonymous: Southeast Colorado Tarantula Tour donated by Colorado Open Lands - Anonymous: Estes Valley Land Trust Membership + Summer Breakfast Event - Tommy Latousek: Phantom Canyon Guided Fishing Trip + Goodie Bag donated by The Nature Conservancy Colorado Field Office - Anonymous: Douglas Land Conservancy Picnic Blanket + Prize PackYour support means we can continue protecting Colorado's lands, waters, and wildlife. To date, we've: ✅ Conserved over 52,000 acres ✅ Awarded $2.8 million in grants ✅ Strengthened conservation efforts statewide Looking ahead to 2025, we're gearing up for big milestones, including: ✔️ Hosting our popular Spring Summit ✔️ Advancing water knowledge initiatives ✔️ Opening ~$700,000 in grants for conservation, organizational growth, and equity initiatives Thank you for your commitment to keeping Colorado beautiful and thriving. Together, we're making a lasting impact! 🌲🏞️ #KeepItColorado #ColoradoGivesDay #ConservationMatters #ProtectColorado

Show Colorado some love today with a gift in honor of Colorado Gives Day! https://lnkd.in/gUVvbv-2 #ColoradoGivesDay #MakeGoodHappen #BestDaytoGive

Over two miles of the West Fork of the Dolores River corridor and 300 forested and wetland acres have been protected through a conservation easement! Congratulations to Montezuma Land Conservancy and the conservation-minded landowner on their partnership to ensure this stretch of river will remain wild. Keep It Colorado is proud to have supported this project through the Transaction Cost Assistance Program with support from Walton Family Foundation.

Starting the week with some good news: over two miles of the Rio San Antonio and 300 acres of wetlands and ranchland in the southern San Luis Valley are now conserved! The Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust completed a new conservation easement with the Salazar family. Keep It Colorado was proud to support this project in partnership with Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) and Ducks Unlimited through the transaction cost assistance program. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g5egcfpT

Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT) has protected over 60,000 acres of land across southeastern Colorado with the goal of protecting and restoring the American Serengeti. Land they protect is home to the most endangered mammal in North America – the black-footed ferret. Last week, SPLT joined up with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to release 33 ferrets to aid in the restoration of their population. With roughly 400 black-footed ferrets total in all of North America, this is no small achievement! Photos are courtesy of Karen Voepel Photography.

Election day is just around the corner. As you sit down at your kitchen table to fill out your ballot or as you make your way to the polls, make sure you are educated on the issues that matter to you. Many municipalities and counties across the state are asking voters about initiatives that impact conservation. Keep It Colorado put together a webpage dedicated to keeping you apprised of these measures. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gmCXYUzS Image courtesy of Boulder County.

In addition to our birthday party last week, we also hosted our annual policy summit. Policy summit is where our members come together to learn what we have been up to and discuss their policy priorities, which will ultimately determine our priorities for the upcoming year. Thank you to all who joined us in-person and online!

Looking for a fun fall activity for the whole family? Check out Colorado Open Lands upcoming Conservation Exploration event on October 19th! Find more info and register below.

We turned 5 this year, and last week we had our birthday party. It was a wonderful celebration - thank you to everyone who joined us! And of course, we're grateful to ANB Bank for being our Peak Sponsor. Thank you for generously sponsoring our celebration! Photos courtesy of CCALT and KIC staff.

This past week, Hannah, Katelyn, and Molly, went to the Land Trust Alliance Rally in Providence, RI. They attended sessions covering topics ranging from federal funding to collaborative conservation and even had the chance to tour an oyster farm! Besides the chance to meet with members and friends, the highlight of the week was when our very own, Hannah, presented with our policy co-chair, Erik Glenn, about how to run a policy campaign!