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EAGLE COUNTY — It's sort of like a buy-one-get-one deal for Eagle County when it comes to a 2011 open space purchase, a parcel known as Two Bridges, near Bond on the Colorado River.
Last year, the county inked a State Land Board lease for property that surrounds the open space parcel. The deal tacked on an additional 543 acres of land available to the public and it recently got sweeter with an impending mineral non-development agreement.
“For approximately $2,000 per year, the public will have use of this property for fishing the nearly one-mile stretch of Colorado River that bisects the property,” wrote Eagle County Open Space Director Toby Sprunk. “Other recreational uses, such as hunting, will also be allowed on the parcel. The lease is good for five years and in most cases it is renewable continuously, so long as lease payments are made.”
The lease will be funded out of the county's open space program, which is a dedicated fund created by the voters of Eagle County in 2002. Two Bridges was acquired in August 2011 for $690,000.
Sprunk said the lease was previously held by a private landowner who could effectively prohibit other users from enjoying the property.
Next week, on Feb. 7, the county commissioners are expected to sign off on a non-development agreement for minerals on the property.
“This means the State Land Board would agree not to develop any minerals on the property for 99 years,” Sprunk wrote. “We would essentially buy this ‘agreement' for a one-time payment of $5,000.”
State Land Board properties are unique in the public land arena, Sprunk said. They were set aside when the State of Colorado was created in 1876 to serve as a source of revenue for certain designated beneficiaries, mainly kindergarten through 12th-grade education, state universities, and other state programs.
“You've heard the term “Land Grant University”? — well, this is the ‘land' they are referencing,” Sprunk said. “Therefore, their primary function is not habitat conservation or outdoor recreation directly. Rather, they primarily work to generate revenues for their designated beneficiaries. In this way they are almost more like a private corporation than a public land agency, like the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management.”
Last year, the county inked a State Land Board lease for property that surrounds the open space parcel. The deal tacked on an additional 543 acres of land available to the public and it recently got sweeter with an impending mineral non-development agreement.
“For approximately $2,000 per year, the public will have use of this property for fishing the nearly one-mile stretch of Colorado River that bisects the property,” wrote Eagle County Open Space Director Toby Sprunk. “Other recreational uses, such as hunting, will also be allowed on the parcel. The lease is good for five years and in most cases it is renewable continuously, so long as lease payments are made.”
The lease will be funded out of the county's open space program, which is a dedicated fund created by the voters of Eagle County in 2002. Two Bridges was acquired in August 2011 for $690,000.
Sprunk said the lease was previously held by a private landowner who could effectively prohibit other users from enjoying the property.
Next week, on Feb. 7, the county commissioners are expected to sign off on a non-development agreement for minerals on the property.
“This means the State Land Board would agree not to develop any minerals on the property for 99 years,” Sprunk wrote. “We would essentially buy this ‘agreement' for a one-time payment of $5,000.”
State Land Board properties are unique in the public land arena, Sprunk said. They were set aside when the State of Colorado was created in 1876 to serve as a source of revenue for certain designated beneficiaries, mainly kindergarten through 12th-grade education, state universities, and other state programs.
“You've heard the term “Land Grant University”? — well, this is the ‘land' they are referencing,” Sprunk said. “Therefore, their primary function is not habitat conservation or outdoor recreation directly. Rather, they primarily work to generate revenues for their designated beneficiaries. In this way they are almost more like a private corporation than a public land agency, like the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management.”
