The Johnston Ranch Campaign

The Colorado Department of Transportation and Great Outdoors Colorado have already awarded grants of $150,000.00 and $140,000.00 for the purchase of this conservation easement. To raise the remainder ($472,000), the Palmer Foundation Land Trust has submitted grant applications to private foundations and will seek additional participation from Great Outdoors Colorado. However, all of these funding sources require a strong measure of local financial support as a condition for their participation.

The project is endorsed by the Teller County Commissioners and the City of Woodland Park, the Pikes Peak Area Trails and Open Space Coalition, The Teller County Park Advisory Board, and the Teller Historic and Environmental Coalition.

Why the Johnston Ranch Matters

The Johnston family has owned the property since the 1920s and would like to continue its ranching operations. The family leases portions of the adjacent ranches located between Woodland Park and Divide, providing the glue that holds this ranching corridor together. The Johnston property is the last major parcel that is threatened with development in the area. The neighboring Broken Wagon Ranch is already protected by a conservation easement held by The Palmer Foundation Land Trust, and both properties back up to the Catamount Ranch Open Space, which is owned by Teller County. In addition, the Colorado Division of Wildlife holds an easement on the nearby Elk Valley Estates. If the Johnston Ranch can be protected with a conservation easement, then these parcels (Broken Wagon, Johnston, and Catamount) will preserve the superb view corridor, wild life habitat, and agricultural lands that lie between U.S. Highway 24 and the Pikes Peak Water Shed on the south.

Ecological Values

The Johnston Ranch hay meadow is bisected by Trout Creek, a tributary of the South Platte River, which makes it prime wildlife habitat and riparian environment. Elk move across the property from nearby Mueller State Park. The Ranch is also home to eagles and hawks, mountain lion, coyote, bear, and fox.

We have to act Now!

Protection of the Johnston Ranch is urgent. The property sits squarely in the path of urban sprawl creeping from Woodland Park to Divide. Development of the property would disrupt historic and interconnected ranching activities and wildlife movement. It would break up the existing agricultural buffer between Woodland and Divide and obstruct vistas of Pikes Peak, "America's Mountain".

You can help make this project a success by:

1. Mailing a check to:
   The Palmer Foundation Johnston Ranch Fund
   Box 1281
   Colorado Springs, Colorado 80901
2. Fund-Raising:
   Identify individuals and businesses that you think would be interested in making a major contribution to this effort. Call The Palmer Foundation Land Trust at 632-3236 or David Conley at 633-3334.

Contributions to the Palmer Foundation Land Trust, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, are fully tax-deductible.