Town to Buy Kentucky Placer

The Telluride Daily Planet
Published 6/29/06
www.telluridegateway.com

By Matthew Beaudin

The government of San Miguel County and that of the Town of Telluride hope to purchase the Kentucky Placer - some 108 acres of privately owned land that runs east from the entrance to the Bear Creek Preserve all the way to the base of Bridal Veil Falls - this fall for roughly $1.4 million. Of that, the Town of Telluride will pay $855,000 and the county will chip in $100,000. The town will shell out $585,000 from its Open Space Fund and $269,000 from its parks fund for the project. Great Outdoors Colorado, a lottery-supported fund that allots money for various outdoor projects, will take care of the rest with a contribution of nearly $500,000.

The acquisition will allow public access of many kinds to the property, including climbing, camping and activities in Town Park. It will also allow for a Town Park expansion and protection of the beaver pond and wetlands at the base of the Bear Creek Preserve. To the east of Bear Creek the town will be able to build more campsites and add more cross-country skiing. The land acquired to the west of the park will allow the town to continue using the park in its current capacity, as well as make room for a regulation soccer field, should the town elect to build one in the future.

The public ownership of the placer will also seamlessly link the Town Park with the Bear Creek Preserve, creating a safe haven for area wildlife. “It enables us to protect one of the highest identified open space parcels, which is the beaver pond,” said Lance McDonald, special projects manager for the Town of Telluride. The placer is the only remaining privately owned land separating open space and Town Park land, the Bear Creek Preserve and the United States Forest Service land beyond.

The Trust for Public Lands, an organization whose mission is to acquire open space and parkland and, in time, place them into public ownership, currently owns the property. Its purchase of the land in 2003 came as part of its Red Mountain Project, which conveyed some 2,400 acres of patented mining claims located high above town to the USFS. TPL bought the placer with the intent of allowing the town time to come up with the requisite cash to buy the acreage.

But TPL will hold onto a sliver of the placer - approximately1.6 acres located just west of the Bear Creek trailhead - in hopes of annexing it into the town and selling the land in the future. Doug Robotham, Colorado director at TPL, said the trust hoped to sell the piece of property after annexation in order to offset some of the costs in purchasing the Kentucky Placer in 2003. The buyer, he hoped, would be someone who would continue the spirit of the Bear Creek Preserve.

Robotham said TPL was excited for the property to go to the town. “This project is an exciting project from our standpoint,” he said. “We think the Kentucky Placer is going to be a really valuable addition to the existing compliment of open space and parkland for the residents of Telluride to enjoy,” he said