In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the CCALT team shares what we are thankful for this year. Happy Thanksgiving from our team to yours!

Brendan Boepple: I am grateful for the passionate stewards of Colorado’s working lands. Farmers and ranchers are on the front lines of natural resource conservation, protecting soil, water, and wildlife while providing food and fiber to our growing state.

Molly Fales: I’m grateful for the satisfaction of knowing that when an easement is completed the conserved land will remain open providing forage for livestock and wildlife, scenic views, and open space for generations to come.

John Gioia: I am grateful for Colorado’s agricultural landowners’ dedication to land and water stewardship and conservation. 

Erik Glenn: I am grateful for the opportunity to work with farm and ranch families across the state to help them meet their conservation and operational goals and to ensure that there will always be special places across Colorado that can produce food, fiber, energy, and a home for wildlife. I am also grateful for doing work that has great and positive consequences to our landowner partners, rural communities, and all of the people of the state of Colorado.

Maggie Hanna: I am grateful for the people and the communities who push me every day and help me navigate life’s many lessons. I continue to be grateful for our wide-open spaces and for having work of consequence to wake up to every day!  

Megan Knott: I’m grateful for wild places remaining untouched to instill in the next generation a sense of something bigger than themselves.

Amber Pougiales: I am grateful for the foresight of Routt County residents to create a funding source for conservation and cultivate strong relationships with credible land trust organizations. As a dear friend said, “the people of Routt County saw what they had and decided to hold on tight”.

Haley Rhodes: I am grateful for the opportunity to work for an organization that is making a positive long-term impact on agriculture and open spaces in Colorado. I am also grateful for the conservation work of CCALT that ensures future generations can maintain working lands in Colorado.

Anne Rogers: I’m grateful for the many landowners who have conserved their ranches and farms for future generations and have entrusted CCALT to steward their conservation easements, forever!

Dan Skeeters: When visiting with Betty Williams a few weeks ago, sitting around her kitchen table, she recounted her 70+ years on her beloved ranch. This included hauling every drop of water she’s had to drink for this entire period, droughts, being snowed-in for weeks as well as the loss of a husband and a beloved adult child. When asked why she stays and why she endures the hardships, she pondered the question for a few seconds, pointed to a wall filled with neatly framed photos and simply said, “family”. I am grateful for the opportunity to get to know many owners of CCALT’s conserved properties. I am particularly drawn to a subset of women ranchers, like Betty, who are among the toughest, most resilient, and happiest people I’ve ever met. When you get right down to it, CCALT’s mission is about family and keeping Colorado’s working lands in working hands and, for me, that’s a cause worth supporting.

Patricia Thompson: I am grateful for the partnerships we’re building and for getting the chance to connect landowners and conservation organizations across the state.