Best Of The West: The Conservation Fund Taps FLTFA Funds To Save Colorado History

November 17, 2009

Contact:

Vanessa Vaughan, The Conservation Fund, (703) 908-5809; vvaughan@conservationfund.org

Arlington, VA – With key support from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Conservation Fund celebrates the protection of a historic property today. The Fund has conserved an archeological treasure trove within Colorado’s Canyon of the Ancients National Monument.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack approved land acquisition funding to preserve this high-value conservation land. The funding is authorized by the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA) of 2000, which established a special land conservation fund to purchase private “inholdings” in western states from willing sellers whose acreage is surrounded by or next to lands managed by Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and the Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service. FLTFA purchases are funded from already completed federal land sales. Under FLTFA, the Bureau of Land Management is authorized to sell fragmented or isolated parcels of public land that are difficult to manage, as well as lands that may have residential or commercial value, and then use the proceeds to support land conservation purposes.

The 4,573-acre Canyons of the Ancients property in Colorado accounts for about 25 percent of the private lands inside the monument and contains 25 documented sites of cultural importance, including Jackson’s Castle and the Skywatcher Site, a 1,000-year old Ancestral Puebloan solstice marker. The property is believed to contain more than 700 other as yet undocumented sites of cultural importance. The Conservation Fund purchased the property and will transfer it to the Bureau of Land Management.

In addition to the Colorado property, FLTFA funds have been approved to protect a popular recreation destination, known as the Chain of Lakes, on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail in Montana. The Chain of Lakes area draws a million visitors annually – the top recreation spot in the state. The Bureau of Land Management and The Conservation Fund will preserve a critical 37-acre inholding within the recreation area that also lies within the popular Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail corridor. This builds on The Conservation Fund’s larger work at the Chain of Lakes Special Recreation Management Area, where we have protected more than 13,000 acres.

In a release issued Monday, Secretary Salazar, Secretary Vilsack and Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey noted the importance of these projects and the FLTFA program:

“These land purchases are a very worthwhile and much needed investment,” said Secretary Salazar. “The properties being brought into public ownership are remarkable for their extraordinary natural, scenic, recreational, cultural, and historical value. Their acquisition will benefit the American people now and in the future.”

Secretary Vilsack commented: “Conservation of forests and wildland areas of national significance will provide important environmental and recreation benefits for generations of Americans. Today’s announcement is an important step toward this shared goal and an example of how the FLTFA program succeeds by enabling close cooperation between USDA and the Department of Interior.”

Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey, noting that the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act is set to expire next year, said, “By using revenues from Federal land sales to acquire private inholdings from willing sellers, this law is a great tool for conserving America's signature landscapes for future generations. The Obama Administration has recommended that Congress extend the law so that more Americans may benefit from these types of fiscally responsible, targeted land acquisitions.”

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