But instead of buying land, the Teller County measure would allow the county to buy development rights from the owners of existing ranches through the use of conservation easements. The easements preclude landowners, or their heirs, from subdividing the land. To members of Teller County's Rural Lifestyle Protection Group, which is sponsoring the ballot issue, the beauty of this approach is that it allows private landowners and families to stay on the land over generations.
Conservation easements help keep the tax evaluation pegged to agricultural use.
And because it involves less government control over land, conservation easements are more politically acceptable than big-government land buys in conservative, rural ranching communities. These families are sometimes two or three generations on the land and they do what it takes to keep the land up. We'd also like to see these families stay in the area. If approved, the levy will be in place for only 10 years, after which it could once again be put to voters for approval. Roughly 20 percent of the funds would be used for building infrastructure on trails and parks, as well as open-space protection in Cripple Creek, Victor and Woodland Park.