Vail, Eagle County aim to preserve East Vail bighorn sheep habitat through a conservation easement
Town is expected to enlist the help of the Eagle Valley Land Trust in securing a conservation easement for Booth Heights
Rick Spitzer/Courtesy photo
The Vail Town Council on Tuesday will consider a pair of resolutions surrounding the process of converting an undeveloped portion of bighorn sheep habitat in East Vail into permanently protected open space.
The Eagle County Open Space Advisory Committee, in a recent meeting, recommended that the county provide up to $5 million from the Open Space Program fund to support Vail’s East Vail conservation project, subject to an intergovernmental agreement between the town of Vail and Eagle County.
The Board of County Commissioners is expected to consider the Open Space Advisory Committee’s recommendation at its April 8 meeting, but before it does, the Vail Town Council, on Tuesday, will consider a resolution approving the intergovernmental agreement with the county.
The resolution language says the town of Vail, “in anticipation of an open space fund contribution of $5 million at the April 8 meeting of the Eagle County Commissioners toward the purchase of the Bighorn Preserve and establishment of a future conservation easement therein,” will accept the terms of the funding agreement.
Land Trust board already approved
The town of Vail owns 146.872 acres of land in East Vail that has been deemed suitable for a conservation easement. That land includes both the 5.39-acre East Vail Workforce Housing Subdivision Lot 1 and the 17.91-acre East Vail Workforce Housing Subdivision Tract A.
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The parcels are known as Booth Heights and were formerly owned by Vail Resorts. The company had slated Lot 1 for development before the town condemned it in 2022 to protect a herd of bighorn sheep that grazes there.
A years-long litigation effort followed before a settlement was reached in October, with Vail Resorts agreeing to drop all appeals of the acquisition in favor of partnering with the town to develop West Lionshead.
Legal hurdles now cleared, the town of Vail is expected to enlist the help of the Eagle Valley Land Trust in securing a conservation easement for Booth Heights.
The land trust, in February, wrote a letter to the town indicating that it is willing to coordinate a conservation easement on 146.872 acres in East Vail to be known as the Vail Bighorn Preserve, and the acceptance of an easement there has been approved by the land trust’s board of directors.
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“The strategy for this conservation project is anticipated to be through the donation of a conservation easement held by EVLT with terms acceptable to the town of Vail,” the land trust wrote in the letter. “We agree that the goal of this project is to permanently conserve the property and its conservation values of relatively natural habitat and open space scenic attributes.”
$84,705 in associated costs
On Tuesday, the Vail Town Council will also consider a resolution authorizing the town manager to enter into an agreement with the Eagle Valley Land Trust for the Vail Bighorn Preserve.
The town will pay for all legal fees, site assessments and other costs associated with establishing the conservation easement, according to the resolution. That will include a baseline inventory report documenting the current condition of the property, an appraisal to determine the value of the conservation easement and a mineral remoteness assessment to determine the likelihood of extraction activities occurring on the land. An environmental assessment and water report might also be required, as well.
“In addition to the costs of these documents, there are other fees associated with the conveyance of a conservation easement including a project coordination fee, stewardship and legal defense endowment contributions, and various legal fees,” according to the land trust. “Together, these fees typically range from $75,000 to $175,000, depending on the project.”
The town of Vail’s resolution will allow the town manager to spend $84,705 in securing the conservation easement.
In addition to protecting the property from future development, the conservation easement will also provide tax benefits to the town, including federal tax deductions, Colorado state income tax credits and property tax benefits, according to the land trust.
But the easement will also reflect “the landowner’s conservation ethic and the love of their land,” according to the land trust. “Intrinsic benefits include the preservation of beautiful scenic vistas and our Western heritage, fertile agricultural lands and water resources, as well as critical wildlife habitat and the animals who share the land as home.”
