Hawk Canyon Ranch_Charlie Johnson — Hawk Canyon Ranch. Photo courtesy of Charlie Johnson.

Larimer County will finalize the purchase of a 1,091-acre ranch this September to provide an over two-mile buffer and scenic backdrop to Red Mountain Open Space.

The property is located between East Colorado State University’s (CSU) Maxwell Ranch to the west and Red Mountain Open Space (RMOS) to the east, managed by Larimer County as part of RMOS and is a large addition due to its high ecological and scenic values. The acquisition includes Larimer County’s fee purchase of 1,091 acres and conveyance of a conservation easement on the land to the City of Fort Collins.

The property is just one of four ranches identified for conservation within the Laramie Foothills area, supported through the Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) Open Space grant that was awarded in June of this year.

Hawk Canyon Ranch Context Map. Photo courtesy of Charlie Johnson.

“This purchase further stitches together lands conserved through a long-term partnership among Larimer County, Fort Collins, private landowners and others in the Laramie Foothills,” said Meegan Flenniken, Land Conservation, Planning & Resource Division Manager, Larimer County Natural Resources.

The property includes stream-carved canyons, hogback rock outcroppings, ponderosa pine forests, and one of the largest extents of globally imperiled mountain mahogany shrubland communities. Larimer County will purchase the ranch for a total of $3.5 million with funding from the County’s Help Preserve Open Spaces sales tax, City of Fort Collins’ Open Space Yes sales tax, Great Outdoors Colorado, and the Friends of Larimer County Parks and Open Lands.

“We are honored to be able to partner with this landowner to protect the ranch in perpetuity,” said Daylan Figgs, Director, Larimer County Natural Resources. “Sincere thanks to the citizens of Fort Collins and Larimer County for their continued support of local open space initiatives that make projects like this possible,” Daylan said.

For more information regarding the ranch purchase, visit www.larimer.org/naturalresources or call Meegan Flenniken, Larimer County Natural Resources, at 970-619-4562

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