Fall 2024 Newsletter

A note from the Executive Director

In October, I became a grandmother! Friends told me that there is nothing quite like a grandparent’s love – and wow, is that true.

When I look into my grandson’s eyes, I see the promise of a beautiful future for him – he’s our littlest legacy. Welcoming this tiny bundle has reminded me of what’s truly important in life, and why Mountain Area Land Trust’s (MALT) work is so vitally important. He has inspired me to work even harder for MALT, to ensure that he and future generations of little ones grow up in a Colorado where children can breathe fresh mountain air, explore creeks and rivers, run through lush meadows, and experience wildlife.

I can hardly wait until our little legacy is old enough for his first walk in the woods.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season. I hope that you take time this winter to walk in the woods and reflect on our collective good fortune – to live and visit extraordinary places in Colorado that make our state, and our way of life, exceptional.

With gratitude,
Lynn Caligiuri, Executive Director

Land & Water Conservation

Since 1992, the Mountain Area Land Trust has protected 27,000 acres of land and water across its six-county service area. In 2024, MALT completed a voluntary conservation agreement that now links a contiguous conservation corridor of over 1,100 acres in Conifer. MALT is conserving an additional 44-acre parcel in Conifer, 18 acres of the highly visible Floyd Hill Meadow in Clear Creek County, and is actively cultivating an additional 800 acres of protected priority landscapes in the coming year.

Rocky Top

“Rocky Top,” a 151-acre property in southern Jefferson County is protected for the next generation. Thanks to a strong neighbor-to-neighbor effort, MALT now holds 11 voluntary conservation agreements along Pleasant Park Road, Ridge Road and Kuester Road in Conifer and Littleton, conserving more than 1,100 acres of connected land and wildlife corridors.

Owned by Larry Eidlen, Rocky Top is a beautiful mixture of woodlands with aspen stands and small meadows, providing a varied and complex habitat. A natural spring serves as a water source for wildlife, including mule deer, elk, wild turkey, black bear, bobcat, fox, marmots, and mountain lion, along with a wide variety of birds, insects, smaller mammals, and raptors, including the Golden Eagle, a federally protected species.

Read more about Rocky Top here.

Floyd Hill Meadow Update

Thanks to generous community support, Mountain Area Land Trust is finalizing a voluntary Conservation Easement on Floyd Hill Meadow the 18-acre parcel in Clear Creek County!

For over 30 years, residents vigorously opposed high-density development plans for the meadow. Along with devastating ecological impacts, the community understood that development threatened access and availability of water resources, open spaces, scenic vistas, and quality of life. Thanks to the generosity of more than 100 donors, businesses and civic organizations, this highly visible area along the I70 corridor will be protected for future generations.

The property’s natural areas include beautiful open meadows, quaking aspen, riparian areas and a seasonal pond. As a nonprofit, MALT relies on the community’s generosity to support its land and water conservation efforts.

Learn more about Floyd Hill Meadow here.

Consider a gift to MALT this Giving Season

Mountain Area Land Trust’s giving season is here. You understand the importance of MALT’s ongoing conservation work and your online donation supports our efforts to protect land and water, wildlife and our Colorado way of life.

Thanks to MALT’s partnership with Colorado Gives Foundation, every gift made now through December 10, 2024, unlocks additional incentive funds, exceeding one million dollars! As a bonus, MALT’s generous Board of Directors will match every dollar donated up to $25,500! Triple your donation to Colorado land, water and wildlife – donate today!

Join us Tuesday, December 10 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. for MALT’s annual Colorado Gives Day Happy Hour (908 Nob Hill Road, Evergreen)! Enjoy festive beverages, appetizers, and door prizes.

Please RSVP to malt@savetheland.org. A special thanks to PandoraJohnProperties for sponsoring this celebration!

Stewardship: A Legacy for the Future

Stewardship of the land is a critical component to MALT’s land and water conservation work. In 2024, our resilient Land Steward completed site visits on 18,734 acres spanning 97 properties. Thanks to generous grant funding, MALT upgraded its GIS and mobile technology, allowing for more streamlined data and monitoring efficiencies. Community members, business partners and volunteers engaged in stewardship through weed mitigation, trash removal and trail maintenance on MALT properties. Stewardship of the land is critical to ensuring protection of land, water, wildlife and natural resources for future generations.

The Future of Land and Water Conservation: Community Outreach and Education

An important component of MALT’s work is growing and expanding the scope of Colorado conservation and stewardship by fostering the next generation of allies and leaders. As a conservation thought-leader, MALT is always moving the goal posts. We’re thrilled to share a few “firsts” this year.

Teacher Reaccreditation & Training Workshop

In collaboration with Colorado Open Lands (COL), and funding through the South Park National Heritage Area (SPNHA), MALT successfully hosted its inaugural Teacher Reaccreditation & Training Workshop at Sacramento Creek Ranch (SCR). This differentiating program empowered nearly a dozen K-12 Colorado educators with the resources to connect youth to the natural world, providing skills, curriculum, and take-home tools to foster and equip the next generation of leaders to solve environmental challenges. Stay tuned for information regarding the 2025 workshop!

Youth Birding & Ornithology

In another first, MALT partnered with Evergreen Audubon to successfully launch Youth Birding & Ornithology at Sacramento Creek Ranch. This unique program served over 100 Colorado K-12 children from rural, and underserved communities, providing them with experiential learning in birding, environmental science, biodiversity, and conservation. In addition to the on-site experience, MALT provided take-home resources to empower children to continue exploration of the natural world in their own backyards.

Snow School & High Rockies Kids

Snow School at Sacramento Creek Ranch (SCR) was an avalanche of success! Thanks to a partnership with the Mosquito Range Heritage Initiative (MRHI), and Park County School District local elementary students measured, collected and studied snow, observed the winter landscape, identified animal tracks and scat, explored how wind and temperature shape the snow and enjoyed snowshoeing during their visits to SCR.

Additionally, SCR serves as the home base for the High Rockies Kids homeschool enrichment program, a pilot for the High Rockies Community charter school. Head of School, Laurel Dumas states that the school has benefited from their weekly schedule at SCR and that she sees how well the students engage when learning outside and in smaller groups.

“There is nothing like experiential learning, and nature has a magical and enduring effect,” MALT Executive Director Lynn Caligiuri shares. “By offering resources, tools, and hands-on experiences to educators and students alike, we are setting the stage for the next generation of conservation allies, leaders, and stewards.”

Learn more about this New Cool School here.

MALT’s Programming & Community Engagement

Since 2022, Mountain Area Land Trust’s programming and community engagement programs has increased tenfold, more than doubling in the last year alone. MALT hosted over 60 groups reaching more than 1600 youth and adults in 2024.

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