09/29/2026
On the land in Colorado! Earlier this month, Adirondack Land Trust team members attended Rally 2026: The National Land Conservation Conference in Denver. Hosted by Land Trust Alliance this gathering gives us new tools and lessons to accelerate Adirondack conservation. We’re proud to be part of a land trust community that has protected 70 million acres nationwide, including 10 million in the last five years. Here are snapshots from ranches, farms, and protected lands in Colorado.
1. The ALT team in Colorado: Sam Duchaine, Bill Martin, and Olivia Dwyer.
2. On a field trip with Mountain Area Land Trust, Sam visited Sacramento Creek Ranch, a conservation and education property open to the public for hiking and wildlife viewing.
3. Interpretive signs at Sacramento Creek Ranch offer information about the history of human and ecological communities.
4. Olivia visited Eagle Rock Ranch with Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust to see additive conservation on working lands. The ranch family and land trust partner on a voluntary payment for ecosystem service agreement to sustain agricultural operations and conserve critical wildlife habitat.
5. The ranch also practices rotational grazing, modifies barbed wire fencing to support elk and antelope migration, and leaves gates open for wildlife passage.
6. Olivia met up with ANCA Clean Energy Director Jill Henck, who presented on improving solar sitings, and Adirondack Land Trust board member Holly Rippon-Butler, who works to support food system projects.
7. Sam traveled east of Denver to explore how conserved agricultural lands in the Splendid Valley are driving regional food production and expanding access to local food.
8. The Splendid Valley field trip visited an organic farm utilizing regenerative agriculture practices to improve soil health, water efficiency, and long-term productivity.
9. The Greenland Wildlife Overpass opened in December 2025 to help elk and antelope cross Interstate 25 south of Denver. Ranchlands to the east are protected by a conservation easement with Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust, while the Douglas County open space to the west is protected by a conservation easement with Douglas Land Conservancy. These projects, completed before the wildlife crossing was conceptualized, set the stage for wildlife conservation.
10. The overpass connects 60 square miles of wildlife habitat. A slash pile creates a sheltered crossing for species like the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, the northern leopard frog, and other snakes, turtles, and small mammals.
Photos by Olivia Dwyer and Sam Duchaine
