LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT) is proud to announce a landmark conservation easement closing on a historic ranch in Eagle and Routt Counties.  By partnering with landowner Susan Nottingham and a coalition of conservation organizations that includes Eagle County Open Space and Natural Resources, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Routt County Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), CCALT is conserving 18,484 acres of the Nottingham Ranch. This easement marks an unprecedented collaborative effort, ensuring one of the largest working ranches in Colorado remains intact and working for generations to come.

“This project exists because of Susan Nottingham’s vision and determination. Following in the footsteps of her parents, she has devoted her life to this ranch, to production agriculture, and to her community. Susan chose to leave a legacy that will endure for generations, and because of that choice, this landscape, its water, and its working heritage will remain intact,” said Erik L. Glenn, Chief Executive Officer of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust.

“Susan’s love of the land has been clear from the very beginning of the conservation easement process. At every juncture, Susan has made the choice that best protects the ranch’s many significant conservation values,” explained Molly Fales, CCALT’s Staff Attorney. “I am honored to have worked with Susan and proud to be part of conserving this special place for generations to come.”

“This conservation easement on the Nottingham Ranch is a powerful example of what happens when ranchers, land trusts and NRCS work together to keep working lands in working hands. By permanently protecting this iconic Colorado ranch and its senior water rights, we are safeguarding productive agriculture, critical wildlife habitat, and the rural way of life across the west,” said NRCS Chief Colton L. Buckley. “I’m proud of the partnership with the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust and the Nottingham Ranch family. Voluntary, locally led conservation like this strengthens our food security, conserves our natural resources, and ensures that future generations of ranchers can continue stewarding these lands.”

“Eagle County Open Space and Natural Resources has contributed to protecting nearly 9,500 acres in the county — the largest conservation easement in the 23-year history of the Open Space fund —securing vital senior water rights, critical elk habitat, and our local ranching legacy,” shared Marcia Gilles, Eagle County’s Director of Open Space and Natural Resources.

When asked about the easement closing, Susan quoted John Keats. “‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever.’ This will truly be a joy forever,” she said. “My heart is full.”

Susan’s parents are the inspiration for this massive undertaking. When Bill Nottingham, Jr.  married Neva Snook on January 4, 1950, they had nothing except the dream, desire, and drive to build something of their own. They purchased their first ranch on what is now the Eagle Vail Golf Course in Avon, Colo. Bill and Neva worked hard, raised their three children, and through the next six decades, amassed the holdings that are today the Nottingham Ranch. Bill died in 2014 at 86 years old. Neva was 91 years old when she died in 2023. This project is a tribute to their life of hard work and their love of the land.

The Nottingham family has owned and managed the ranch, a working cattle ranch consisting of multiple parcels interspersed with public lands, for more than 40 years. The scale of the ranch and contiguity with public lands created an opportunity for true landscape-scale conservation that benefits both the ranch and wildlife. In addition, the ranch is irrigated using more than 175 cfs of senior water rights, all of which are tributary to the Colorado River, and all of which will be tied to the land through the conservation easement.

After seeing the impact that development had on her parents’ original ranch in the Vail Valley and continued to have on working lands across the state, Susan Nottingham concluded that a conservation easement was the only way to ensure her ranch was spared from development. Nottingham Ranch serves as an example to neighbors, landowners, and others across the state of the important role conservation easements can play in maintaining landscapes, communities, and traditions for future generations.

Located just outside the community of Burns, conserving this property also maintains scenic open space, with views of the Flattops, Castle Peak, and the Gore Range. The conservation of this ranch will also help to maintain wildlife habitat for elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, moose, bald eagles, greater sage grouse, and many other species that rely on the landscape.

CCALT and the community at large extend their appreciation to the Nottingham Family for their vision and generosity in placing Nottingham Ranch under easement. They serve as an example to others of working lands conservation in Colorado, ensuring this meaningful landscape will remain permanently intact and available for agricultural use, wildlife habitat, and scenic value for generations to come. CCALT is also grateful for all the partners involved and the collaboration effort that made a project of this scale possible.

About Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT)

The Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT) partners with landowners to conserve and steward Colorado’s working landscapes and agricultural heritage for the benefit of all Coloradans. Since 1995, CCALT has partnered with over 500 families to conserve more than 850,000 acres of Colorado ranch land. CCALT seeks to build a future where Colorado’s working lands, farm and ranch families, and rural communities thrive — ecologically, economically and culturally. More information about CCALT is available at: ccalt.org.

Eagle County Open Space and Natural Resources

Eagle County Open Space and Natural Resources’ vision is an Eagle County with thriving landscapes and healthy ecosystems. Its mission is to conserve landscapes and promote the sound management of our natural resources to support Eagle County’s way of life.

About USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service offers voluntary Farm Bill programs that benefit both agricultural producers and the environment. The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) helps landowners, land trusts, and other entities protect, restore, and enhance wetlands or protect working farms and ranches through conservation easements. ACEP protects the agricultural viability and related conservation values of eligible land by limiting nonagricultural uses which negatively affect agricultural uses and conservation values, protect grazing uses and related conservation values by restoring or conserving eligible grazing land, and protecting, restoring and enhancing wetlands on eligible land.

Routt County Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program

The Routt County Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program is a land protection tool in which a property’s development rights are purchased from willing landowners. Funding for the PDR Program is derived from a 1.5 mill levy in County property tax approved by voters through 2035. In exchange for County funds, the landowner grants a perpetual conservation easement, or deed restriction on the property, thereby permanently protecting the land from development. The PDR Program provides landowners an economically attractive alternative to selling land for development by compensating them for the development rights on their land. Ownership of the property remains vested with the landowner, who can use and manage the property consistent with the terms of the conservation easement. Since the initiation of the PDR program in 1997, the County has helped fund the purchase of conservation easements on more than 85,000 acres, at a cost of nearly $43 million.

About The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a global, nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together.

The Nature Conservancy is working to make a lasting difference around the world in 86 countries and territories (41 by direct conservation impact and 45 through partners) through a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners.

The Nature Conservancy has been working in Colorado since 1966 and has helped conserve more than 1.6 million acres of land and over 1,300 miles of rivers statewide.

Members of the media: for more information, please contact Lauren Walters, CCALT Strategic Communications and Brand Manager, at (720) 249-8070 or lauren@ccalt.org