The board of Great Outdoors Colorado has rewarded Larimer County an $812,475 grant. The Laramie Foothills conservation grant will be used to conserve and protect habitat in the area. The region is home to mule deer, elk, and other native Colorado species. The Laramie Foothills span an area from north of Fort Collins to the Wyoming border. The Foothills are an ecological transition zone. This transition zone is where native shortgrass prairies meet rolling mahogany shrublands. Larimer County has completed several conservation projects during the last twenty years. The Foothills area has many crucial wildlife migration routes stretching across it. Likewise, its natural rangeland provides a vital winter range for wildlife. Subsequently, the project will attempt to protect the significant biodiversity in the area.
Laramie Foothills Conservation Grant Project Details
The Great Outdoors Colorado grant was awarded to Larimer county to continue the conservation of wild places in the county. For instance, Great Outdoors Colorado has rewarded Larimer county $57.4 million for conservation projects. Consequently, Larimer county has protected more than 64,000 acres of land. In collaboration with the city of Fort Collins, the county will protect four tracts of land. Two of the parcels are private grazing ranches. However, the other two tracts are large open native grasslands. The main goal during this round of projects is to protect the buffer zone. This zone creates a continuous migration corridor for wildlife. The corridor connects the vital winter range grasslands on the eastern edge of the ranches, to the mahogany shrublands on the western side of the property. Consequently, this project will ensure that minimal surface disturbances will affect the migration corridors and the wildlife that use them.
What are your thoughts on the Laramie Foothills Conservation Grant? Do you think more projects that protect migration routes should be a priority? Let us know in the comments.
