CCALT Partners With Colorado Ranchers and Yampa Valley Sustainability Council To Launch Yampa Valley’s First Wet Meadow Restoration Payment-for-Ecosystem-Services Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Darryl Seibel, Darryl@ccalt.org , 720-557-8266

July 10, 2025

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS , Colo. — The Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT) is partnering with agricultural landowners to restore 20 wet meadow sites on conserved private lands in Northwestern Colorado’s Yampa Valley. These efforts, conducted in collaboration with Yampa Valley Sustainability Council (YVSC), aim to improve Greater sage-grouse and Columbian sharp-tailed grouse habitat through wet meadow restorations that align habitat enhancements with agricultural landscapes.

“YVSC recognizes the important role restored wet meadows play in mitigating drought, improving critical habitat, and enhancing working agricultural lands. Through this collaboration with CCALT and local ranchers and farmers, we are advancing meaningful, on-the-ground solutions for a more resilient Yampa Valley,” said Ryan Messinger, Natural Climate Solutions Project Manager at YVSC. 

The restorations will utilize low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) tools, such as Zeedyk structures. In addition to improving Greater sage-grouse and Columbian sharp-tailed grouse habitat, the restorations will support broader ecosystem health, increase biodiversity, and provide long-term benefits to agricultural landowners. This work is supported by funding from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Land Trust Grant and the Yampa River Fund.

LTPBR tools gradually restore ecosystem functioning over time. The rock Zeedyk structures will stop erosion, slow down water, collect sediment, and recruit wetland vegetation. Volunteers from YVSC’s Yampa Valley Climate Crew will join for two days on August 14th and 15th to help build the structures.

CCALT is piloting an innovative payment for ecosystem services (PES) model focused on wet meadow restorations. The model provides payments to landowners for hosting and maintaining the structures until the wet meadows are fully restored. CCALT will also facilitate a rancher-to-rancher educational event to catalyze interest in the benefits of wet meadow restorations and emerging PES opportunities.

“By partnering with landowners of conserved working lands and YVSC, we will achieve diverse benefits in the Yampa Valley – enhancing grouse habitat and conservation values, supporting agricultural operations, and building interest and receptivity within the ranching community for future restoration efforts,” said Kathleen Voight, Additive Conservation Manager at CCALT.

Interested landowners can learn more about CCALT’s wet meadow restoration and payment for ecosystem services model by contacting: Kathleen Voight at kathleen@ccalt.org

About the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust

The Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust was founded in 1995 by the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, the nation’s oldest livestock association, to help Colorado’s farming and ranching families conserve working agricultural lands and associated natural resources. CCALT’s mission is “to conserve Colorado’s Western heritage and working landscapes for the benefit of future generations.” CCALT is a leader in advancing innovative conservation tools on Colorado’s working lands, with a long history of success in the Yampa River watershed in Northwestern Colorado. The Yampa Valley provides critical habitat to Greater sage-grouse and Columbian sharp-tailed grouse and supports a robust agricultural landscape.

About the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council

Yampa Valley Sustainability Council advances local land- and water-resilience strategies by providing information, technical guidance, community engagement, and collaborative leadership on reforestation, restoration, and carbon-sequestration projects across forests, riparian areas, wetlands, and rangelands. Through community outreach and on-the-ground partnerships, YVSC helps scale conservation efforts and strengthen the Yampa Valley’s long-term ecological resilience. Community participation in projects like ecological restoration initiatives enhances organizational capacity while providing volunteers with an opportunity to give back to natural landscapes while learning about the various benefits these projects provide. Those interested in joining as a Climate Crew volunteer can sign up here.

From left: Brendan Boepple, Megan Knott, and colleagues during a wet meadow restoration effort on a CCALT conservation easement in the upper Yampa watershed, May 2024. Photo by Alec Lambert.