A key component of San Isabel Land Protection Trust’s Sustainable Water Program is finding and sharing the best available science and information with the people who live or own property in the region. Staff hydrologist Valda Terauds shared what she had learned about how water works in Custer County in a June 27, 2019, special presentation: “Hydrogeology in Custer County – a Tale of Many Aquifers.” 

Envisioning the future of the Bluff Park is the focus of an $8,000 grant San Isabel Land Protection Trust has received from the Laura Jane Musser Fund.

The grant will provide resources for "open park" events and community meetings to develop a shared vision and management plan for the park. That will include identifying partners and ways to pay for sustaining the park in perpetuity. The park events and meetings are planned for this fall and winter.

We are excited to announce three new members on our San Isabel team.

The U.S. Forest Service Fisheries Program needs your help stocking a unique strain of cutthroat trout in Cottonwood Creek near Westcliffe. The cutthroats were rescued from Hayden Creek during the Hayden Pass fire in 2016. On July 1, they hope to introduce 3,000 fish into Cottonwood Creek.

Join us Thursday, June 27, for an informative presentation on how water works in Custer County.

For many property owners in the county, a critical question is, “Do I have water?”

If the answer is yes, the next question is, “Will I have water when my neighbor drills their well?”

Conserve. Collaborate. Regenerate.

San Isabel Land Protection Trust is growing! HIRING NOW: Bluff Park Steward (1 day a week) and Land Stewardship Specialist (full-time seasonal).

To read more about San Isabel and these job opportunities, click on the links below.

Bluff Steward

Land Steward Specialist

San Isabel welcomes staff hydrologist Valda Terauds and new board members Annie Overlin and Steve Oswald.

By Valda Terauds, San Isabel Hydrologist

In response to the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District’s proposed augmentation plan, I submit that the community’s problem with this plan is not a “lack of understanding.” The problem is that the plan does not include protecting the local aquifer that provides water to many rural residents in the Wet Mountain Valley.

You make it possible to keep this region wild and beautiful, with abundant wildlife, productive agriculture, flowing water and thriving rural communities. 

Are you facing a required minimum distribution from your traditional IRA? A qualified charitable distribution could help you reduce your taxable income.

With a qualified charitable distribution, you can exclude from taxable income any IRA funds directly transferred to a qualified public charity. (San Isabel Land Protection Trust is 501(c)(3) charitable organization.)