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MISSION

Conserving Colorado's western heritage and working landscapes for the benefit of future generations.

  • HISTORY
  • LEADERSHIP
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • CERTIFICATIONS
  • AWARDS
  • PARTNERS

A LASTING HERITAGE

For more than 25 years, CCALT has partnered with landowners across Colorado to protect productive agricultural land, while conserving the natural resources that make Colorado such a special place to live and visit.

CCALT was established in 1995 by the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) and was the first land trust formed by a state livestock association — Wyoming, California, Kansas, Texas, and Oregon have since followed suit.

In 2019, CCALT merged with the Yampa Valley Land Trust. Under the shared banner of CCALT, the Yampa Valley Conservation Partnership was created. The partnership extends CCALT’s conservation efforts in the Yampa Valley and across Northwestern Colorado.

The CCALT team on a conserved ranch near Carbondale, Colorado. Photo Courtesy of Jordan Quinn.

Leadership

CCALT is powered by a mighty staff of eleven who work on behalf of ranchers, partners, and donors. We facilitate conservation, crunch numbers, write grants, publish newsletters, and plan events. We come from family ranches, urban neighborhoods, and mountain ski towns, but we each have a deep passion for conserving Colorado’s working lands.



  • Erik Glenn
    Executive Director


  • Erik Glenn
    Executive Director

    Erik is the Executive Director of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT). As Executive Director, Erik oversees the operations of the land trust and works closely with the Board of Directors and staff to ensure that there is consistent alignment with the mission and strategic plan.

    Erik has facilitated more than sixty conservation easement transactions since 2008 and secured more than $10M in grants for the purchase of conservation easements throughout the state. Erik holds a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Management from Colorado State University, a Master of Resource Law Studies from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and an Executive MBA from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Erik also serves on the Board of Directors of Keep it Colorado, is the President of the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts and is a Trustee of the Western Stock Show Association.

    In his free time, Erik enjoys reading, fishing, hunting, and exploring new places with his wife Shelby and his two boys – Theodore and Henry.


    eglenn@ccalt.org | 720-557-8268
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  • Brad Cory
    Conservation Manager


  • Brad Cory
    Conservation Manager

    Brad joined the CCALT team in January 2018 as a Conversation Manager. In this role, Brad splits his time between new conservation projects and annual stewardship of existing easements. 

    Brad took a unique but important path finding his passion for land conversation. Born in California, he was drawn to the mountains of Colorado where he gained a BSBA in Marketing from the University of Denver.  After spending several years working in sales and planning roles for tech and retail companies, he earned a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  During this time, Brad focused his attention on researching new and innovative methods of financing private land conservation.

    In his free time, Brad enjoys backpacking, fishing, climbing, and spending time with his wife and one year old son.


    bcory@ccalt.org | 303-225-8677
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  • Brendan Boepple
    Conservation Manager


  • Brendan Boepple
    Conservation Manager

    Brendan is a Conservation Manager for CCALT. In this role, he focuses on managing conservation projects and developing new opportunities for landowners to conserve and steward their lands. He is passionate about conservation finance and market-based approaches that address agricultural and environmental challenges.

    Brendan developed a deep connection to western landscapes and communities while directing Colorado College’s State of the Rockies Project. In this role he supervised research and public outreach related to natural resource and socioeconomic issues in the Mountain West. He holds a BA in Political Science from Colorado College with an Environmental Issues minor, and completed a Masters of Environmental Management at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. His Masters Project supported the development of a new Conservation Plan to guide the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Prior to joining CCALT and returning to Colorado, Brendan worked in the Northeast US coordinating conservation transactions with local land trusts as well as state and federal agencies.

    In his free time Brendan enjoys fly-fishing, bird hunting and cooking for family and friends.


    Brendan@ccalt.org | 203-856-7211
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  • Molly Fales
    Director of Transactions


  • Molly Fales
    Director of Transactions

    Molly is the Director of Transactions at CCALT. As the Director of Transactions, Molly leads the transaction team, manages new conservation easement projects, and assists with the resolution of stewardship issues. Molly works with landowners across the state. Since joining CCALT in 2015, Molly has partnered with landowners to conserve more than 85,000 acres. Molly consistently looks for new tools to help landowners achieve their goals. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Dartmouth College where she wrote her thesis on the use of conservation easements in Colorado and a J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law.

    Molly grew up on a cattle ranch in Carbondale, Colorado.  She and her husband, David, are lucky to spend time in Carbondale and are having fun introducing their daughter, Rhea, to ranch life. In her free time, Molly enjoys hiking, skiing, and generally trying to keep up with her dog


    mfales@ccalt.org | 720-557-8265
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  • Maggie Hanna
    Senior Advisor


  • Maggie Hanna
    Senior Advisor

    Maggie joined the CCALT team as the External Relations Coordinator in 2015. She recently transitioined to the CCALT project team in the role of Conservation Manager. In this capacity, Maggie will work with landowners on conservation projects, oversee the Leopold Conservation Award, and assist with annual monitoring.

    Prior to joining CCALT, Maggie worked for El Pomar Foundation as a member of the 2011 Fellowship class. She then moved to Oregon to serve as an Americorps volunteer and worked alongside the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District to develop and implement the Agora Platform, a project sourcing mechanism designed to better connect funders with rural community projects and needs.

    Maggie received her BA from Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, in History and Urban Studies: Urban Environments and recently completed a graduate certificate in Ranch Management from the Texas Christian University Ranch Management Program in Fort Worth, Texas.

    Maggie was born and raised on a ranch in Hanover, Colorado. She enjoys spending her free time on the ranch with family.


    maggie@ccalt.org | 720-557-8266
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  • Anne Rogers
    Controller


  • Anne Rogers
    Controller

    Anne joined CCALT in February, 2014 as the organization's Controller, fulfilling a long-standing wish to return to the non-profit world. Previously, Anne served as the Controller for a Denver-area technology firm and has held various finance and accounting roles throughout her career, including financial planning and analysis, audit and taxation.

    Anne holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA in Accounting from Iowa State University. She is an Iowa native with many fond memories of summers on her grandparents’ farms.  Anne moved to Colorado in 1999 and enjoys camping, skiing, biking and golfing with her husband and two boys.


    arogers@ccalt.org | 720-557-8267
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  • Megan Knott
    Stewardship Director


  • Megan Knott
    Stewardship Director

    Megan Knott is the Director of Stewardship and is charged with ensuring that CCALT meets its commitment to perpetually uphold the terms of each of its conservation easements. Megan focuses on partnerships with ranching families across the state to help her accomplish this goal. Megan is also actively engaged in the conservation community on both the state and national level and helps CCALT stay on the cutting edge of evolving stewardship trends. Megan joined CCALT in 2008.  Her background is in forest management and she has Masters degrees in Forestry and Environmental Management from the Nicholas School at Duke University.

    In her spare time, Megan and her husband, Tyler, help run the Knott family’s ranch, located southwest of Oak Creek, Colorado.  Megan is based out of CCALT's Steamboat Springs office.


    megan@ccalt.org | 732-208-6548
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  • Amber Pougiales
    Assistant Director of External Relations


  • Amber Pougiales
    Assistant Director of External Relations

    Amber grew up in Steamboat Springs, CO where she developed a great love for open space, outdoor adventure, and Colorado’s western heritage. She moved to Denver in 2016 after spending nearly 8 years in Oregon where she earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon. Back in the West, Amber became aware of just how much Colorado had grown in her absence. Fueled by a desire to protect the Colorado she grew up in, Amber returned to school and earned a masters in Natural Resource Stewardship from Colorado State University.

    Amber joined the CCALT external relations team in August 2018 with extensive events experience. Outside of the office, Amber enjoys trail running with her dogs, skiing, and exploring areas in Colorado that she has never been.


    amber@ccalt.org | 720-557-8269
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  • Bob Tate
    Special Projects Manager


  • Bob Tate
    Special Projects Manager

    Retired 14 years, Bob is a candidate for an MS Degree in Natural Resources Stewardship from Colorado State University (CSU).  A CSU Donor (Morgan Library and Warner College of Natural Resources), Bob also volunteers for multiple organizations in Colorado, with an emphasis in natural resources stewardship and ecological restoration.  His most recent volunteer efforts consist of working with Colorado land trusts to ensure their viability and effectiveness in land conservation for the next 30 years.

    Bob serves as Treasurer for his HOA in Frisco, CO and as Co-president of the Cherry Creek Neighborhood Association in Denver, CO.

    Bob has 15 years of domestic and international corporate real estate experience and 20 years of domestic and international human resources experience with Deutsche Financial Services, ITT Commercial Finance Corp, and other national and international Firms.  

    Bob earned his MBA from Southern Illinois University in 1977 after completing his MA in Psychology from Washington University in 1970. His leisure activities underscore his passion for conservation and the outdoors: skiing, biking–mountain and road, hiking, volunteering.


    btate@ccalt.org | 720-557-8271
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  • Jayne Thompson
    Director of External Relations


  • Jayne Thompson
    Director of External Relations

    Jayne is the Director of External Relations at CCALT. In this role, Jayne works with a small development team and oversees all of CCALT’s events, fundraising, and communication operations. Throughout her tenure, Jayne has maintained a passion for facilitating the connection between Colorado agriculture and the urban population of the state.

    After growing up on a ranch in Pinedale, Wyoming, Jayne attended Pennsylvania State University where she received her undergraduate degree in Agriculture Science with minors in Environmental Inquiry and Leadership Development. Feeling a strong pull to be back in the West, Jayne graduated from Penn State a semester early and spent a season skiing in Alta, Utah before moving to Colorado in May of 2014. Jayne is an avid skier, mountain biker, and yogi.


    jayne@ccalt.org | 303-225-8677
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  • Morgan Weinrich
    Events and Logistics Manager


  • Morgan Weinrich
    Events and Logistics Manager

    Morgan grew up in Yuma, Colorado where she developed her passion for agriculture through her involvement in 4-H and FFA. Morgan holds a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science with a minor in Agriculture Literacy from Colorado State University. While at CSU, Morgan was also a competitive member of the 2016 Livestock Judging Team. Prior to joining CCALT, Morgan worked at the National Western Stock Show.

    As CCALT’s Events and Logistics Manager, Morgan will coordinate fundraising and outreach events, manage grants, and provide administrative, logistical, and organizational support. In her free time, Morgan enjoys golfing, being involved in the livestock industry, and spending time with her family.


    morgan@ccalt.org |
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  • Sally Ross
    Restoration and Resiliency Program Director


  • Sally Ross
    Restoration and Resiliency Program Director

    Sally joined CCALT as the Restoration and Resiliency Program Director. Her focus is to partner with landowners and community members to develop and implement restoration projects that support long term land stewardship goals.

    Previously, Sally worked throughout northern Colorado as a project director for The Nature Conservancy. She also spent a decade working as a seasonal wildland fire fighter and backcountry wilderness ranger for the US Forest Service in Idaho, Montana and Utah, and developed and managed Sierra Nevada Brewing Company’s natural resources department. Sally has a graduate degree in environmental law and policy from Vermont Law School and a BA from the University of North Carolina – Asheville.

    Sally, her husband Matt and their two kids Baxter and Winnie live in Hayden, Colorado. These days, they’re fortunate to get a lot of family “togetherness” and spend most of that time burning off energy outdoors.


    sally@ccalt.org | 828-545-7692
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Board of Directors

Immediate Past-President
H. Ben Duke III, Fire Rock Ranch
Elizabeth, CO
President
Mark Johnson, Johnson Storage & Moving
Denver, CO
First Vice President
Koger Propst, Sturm Financial Group/ANB Bank
Denver, CO
Secretary/Treasurer
Tawny Halandras, Mountain Valley Bank
Meeker, CO
Vice President – Operations
Tom Stoever, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP
Denver, CO
Vice President – External Relations
Stacy Kourlis Guillon, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie
Denver, CO
Vice President – Conservation
Rye Austin, Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation
Denver, CO
Audit Committee Chair
Orlando Gonzalez
Steamboat Springs, CO
Adonna Allen, Alpine Bank & Long Winter Livestock
Steamboat Springs, CO
John Braly, Colorado Gourmet Potatoes
Monte Vista, CO
Jay Fetcher, Fetcher Ranch
Steamboat Springs, CO
Jen Livsey, Flying Diamond Ranch
Denver, CO
Chancy Love
Denver, CO
Ken Mirr, Mirr Ranch Group
Denver, CO
Ben Rogers, Russell Ranch
Meeker, CO
Terry Swanson, Swanson Ranch
Walsh, CO
Sandi Turecek, Stacked Lazy Three Ranch
Deer Trail, CO
Steve Wooten, Beatty Canyon Ranch
Kim, CO
Tim Lehmann, Deldorita Ranches
Powderhorn, CO
Diane Evans, Land Title Guarantee Company
Kiowa, CO
Legal Counsel
Larry Kueter
Denver, CO
Ex Officio Member 
Terry Fankhauser, Executive Vice President of Colorado Cattlemen’s Association
Arvada, CO
Emeritus Directors:
Sue Anschutz-Rodgers
Carbondale, CO
Tom Compton
Hesperus, CO
Penny Lewis
Denver, CO
Joanne Sinclaire
Sedalia, CO
"If ranching teaches you anything, it is the need to be flexible. In order to preserve our ranch's legacy and heritage, we needed every ounce of flexibility the conservation easement offered, and our family appreciates greatly all who helped make this preservation effort a reality.”
– Art Hutchinson, Salida, CO
"What I appreciate most is that our boys can see and live the lifestyle of working hard on the land, being outdoors with water and livestock. This type of lifestyle is important to our family, and it is vanishing.”
– Howard Hughes, San Miguel County, CO
"Every day I work the land is a tribute to my grandfather and his dreams of making a better life for his family. I always knew I would take over the ranch. As so many ranchers say, it's in my blood. Without our easement, we would have been forced to sell to developers.”
– Junior Gallegos, Arboles, CO

Certifications

  • Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Real Estate
    CCALT has also met the qualifications to hold conservation easements and is certified by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Conservation. Click here for CCALT’s DORA Certification Number.

  • Land Trust Alliance Accreditation
    In 2009 and again in 2013 CCALT received accreditation status from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance.  The accreditation seal recognizes land trusts that meet national standards for excellence, uphold the public trust, and ensure that conservation efforts are permanent. CCALT is currently going through our renewal process for accreditation in 2020.

Awards

  • 2017 Land Trust Excellence Award
    CCALT was honored to receive the Land Trust Excellence Award in 2017. The honor, awarded by the Land Trust Alliance, is given to an accredited land trust that has excelled in innovation, collaboration, communication, and initiation of broader support for land conservation. CCALT is the first land trust in Colorado to receive the award. Click here to watch CCALT’s featured award video. To learn more about the Land Trust Alliance, please visit www.landtrustalliance.org

    2017 Land Trust Excellence Award

     

  • 2012 El Pomar Foundation’s Outstanding Nonprofit Award
    The Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust was honored as the state’s outstanding nonprofit with the Julie and Spencer Penrose Award on October 1st. The Penrose Award included a $50,000 cash prize to further CCALT’s work with ranchers throughout Colorado. CCALT is the first agriculturally oriented organization and the first conservation group to receive the award since it was started by the El Pomar Foundation in 1989. Click here to read the article.

    Maggie Hanna, Gael & Jay Fetcher, Penny Lewis,
    Chris West & Peter Maiurro (left to right)
    2012 El Pomar Foundation’s Outstanding Nonprofit Award

     

  • 2006 Colorado Lottery’s Starburst Award
    In 2006, CCALT received the Colorado Lottery’s Starburst Award for protection of open space values, preserving the state’s natural resources, and the public benefits and partnerships derived from the protection of the Saguache Creek Corridor.

     

  • 2001 CCLT Land Conservation Excellence Award
    In 2001, CCALT received the Land Conservation Excellence Award from the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts for the protection of the Sam Capps Ranch in Huerfano and Las Animas Counties. It also received the 2001 Land Stewardship Award from the Colorado Chapter of the Wildlife Society for its work.

     

  • 1997 Governor’s Smart Growth Award
    In 1997, CCALT received the Governor’s Smart Growth Award for the innovative and informative book, Keeping the Family in the Family Ranch. Also in 1997, CCALT President Jay Fetcher received the prestigious American Land Conservation Award from The Conservation Fund for his efforts in land conservation and for his vision in creating CCALT.

     

Partners

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8833 Ralston Rd. Arvada, CO 80002
p. 303.225.8677

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© DJ Glisson