• Client: Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Yuma County, CO
• Date: June, 2015
• Project Type: Wetland Management
• Info: Blue Mountain Environmental Consulting prepared the conservation easement baseline report for the 2,000-acre Hardwick Farms property in accordance with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service with respect to charitable contributions.

Ranging in elevation from 3,500 to 4,200 feet, Yuma County provides wildlife with a range of habitat primarily consisting of rolling prairies and sand hills. The 2,000-acre Hardwick Farms property is a working ranch located along the Arikaree River. The conservation easement on 1,000 acres grants hunting access to Colorado Parks and Wildlife and conserves broad expanses of shortgrass prairie, dry-land agriculture and riparian habitats.

The Property can potentially support a variety of special-status species and game species that will benefit from conservation. Although improvements have been made, most of the Property remains in its natural state, providing wildlife with tremendous habitat critical to their well-being. The Property is adjacent to and shares 1.9 miles of common boundary with the Sandy Bluffs State Wildlife Area.

Such large, contiguous parcels present a unique opportunity to preserve keystone species and ecological functions of the Western Great Plains, a semi-arid shortgrass steppe, where streamside and groundwater irrigation from the High Plains Aquifer is important. The conservation easement baseline report was prepared by Blue Mountain Environmental Consulting to satisfy the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service with respect to charitable contributions.