Colorado State Land Board Approves La Jara Deal Aimed at Protecting Open Space

By Rachel Gabel | The Fence Post

After what seemed like a rock-solid deal was thrown into a tailspin by some commissioners, the Colorado State Land Board ultimately voted to sell the La Jara property, a deal that has unanimous stakeholder support that has been in the works for nearly a decade.

Ultimately, the SLB commissioners, save for Commissioner Josie Heath, voted for the disposal of the property. The 46,000-acre La Jara property in the San Luis Valley will be sold to the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The USFS and the BLM will purchase 43,526 acres with $43.5 million appropriated through the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The remaining 2,427 acres, around La Jara Reservoir, will be sold to CPW for $6.1 million.

The $49.6 million deal is the result of over 100 stakeholder meetings and was called into question last month when commissioners asked staff for alternatives to selling the land. At the Nov. 13 meeting, State Land Board commissioners voiced their dismay with the Trump administration’s management of federal lands. Commissioner Christine Scanlan said the board was “all-in until the world went nuts.”

REWILDING CONCERNS

There has been widespread concern among ag stakeholders that the board will end grazing leases on the trust lands during the tenure of director Nicole Rosmarino, a vocal rewilding advocate with a history of working to remove cattle grazing from southeastern Colorado lands.

The heavy hitters were all brought to the State Land Board meeting, including the San Luis Valley’s Ken Salazar, former U.S. Senator and Interior Secretary. He compared the La Jara sale to the creation of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

The three Conejos County Commissioners drove to Denver for the meeting and shed light on the importance of the La Jara property to the community for gathering firewood, hunting, grazing and the property’s cultural significance. Some ag leaseholders have grazed the property since the 1880s.

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