Thursday October 1st
5pm to 6:30pm Live Music by Caleb Wilbourn
CAMPFIRE STORIES PRESENTED BY COLORADO CATTLEMAN’S AGRICULTURAL LAND TRUST
Join us as we celebrate the rich heritage of Routt County agriculture with stories shared by the ledgendary Jay Fetcher & Erik Glenn
Jay Fetcher is a highly respected Colorado rancher and conservationist who is renowned for his pioneering efforts to introduce conservation easements as a tool to support farming and ranching families while balancing the interests of agriculture and conservation. Jay was raised on his family’s ranch in the Upper Elk River Valley near Steamboat Springs, where he developed a lifelong appreciation for the importance of conserving working lands, open spaces and wildlife habitats.
In 1993, Jay and his wife, Gael, worked with the American Farmland Trust (AFT) to place a conservation easement on Fetcher Ranch. They recognized that conservation easements could be a useful tool for conserving the land and mitigating estate taxes, which greatly supported Jay’s ability to eventually inherit the ranch.
As a lifelong member of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), Jay recognized the potential of conservation easements to benefit farm and ranch families across Colorado. Inspired by his experience with AFT, he worked with fellow cattle producers to establish the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT) in 1995. Over the past 31 years, CCALT has partnered with more than 400 landowners to conserve nearly 900,000 acres of farmland, ranchland, open space, and wildlife habitat. Jay Fetcher’s vision, along with other CCA leaders, helped create an organization that transformed working lands conservation in Colorado and beyond. Jay has more stories than he can possibly fit into 30 minutes, but that won’t stop him from trying. Come hear tales of this land’s history and learn how conservation easements have helped keep it every bit as beautiful and productive as it is today.
Erik Glenn is the CEO of Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust and comes from a family whose Colorado roots go back a long way. Since the 1880s, the Glenn family has been engaged in two businesses built to last forever: agriculture and cemetery management. Turns out those are the only two industries with actual perpetual legal obligations. As CEO of CCALT, Erik has helped landowners across Colorado permanently conserve nearly 900,000 acres of working lands (an area larger than the state of Rhode Island).
Erik guided the successful merger of CCALT and the Yampa Valley Land Trust (YVLT), the local land trust here, ensuring a seamless transition and preserving YVLT’s conservation legacy within CCALT’s mission. Today, CCALT has conserved more than 84,000 acres of working lands in Routt County, including properties originally conserved through YVLT easements.
FREE TO ATTEND
