As with many of Colorado’s ski towns, the landscape around Steamboat Springs has changed as out-of-towners moved into the area and purchased land for residential use. Emerald Mountain is a large tract of state trust land west of the city cherished for its agricultural use, wildlife habitat and scenic beauty. When the Colorado State Land Board (SLB) began to consider developing the parcel in the early 1990s, citizens in Steamboat Springs wanted to explore other revenue generating opportunities to protect Routt County’s agricultural heritage and open space.

To meet the needs of the trust to generate funds for public schools as well as the needs of the community, the SLB entered into an informal collaboration with the Steamboat Springs community in 1993. In 2000, the group evolved into the Emerald Mountain Partnership, a non-profit organization working to identify ways to protect the property’s agricultural, scenic and recreational values.

The Emerald Mountain Planning Process encountered several challenges throughout its twelve-year history, including unbalanced representation, unanticipated opposition to a land exchange, and difficulty achieving the SLB’s revenue goals. While the Partnership explored several options to protect the parcel, the SLB needed “market value” which increased over time. Through the twelve-year process, the SLB generated some revenues from the parcel through a planning lease and agricultural leases; the final land transaction price will include the appreciated cost of the land totaling approximately $17 million.

Despite these challenges, the SLB and the Partnership stayed at the table and eventually found a solution that generated revenue for the trust and protected public values. One helpful tool for the process was contractual agreements between the county and the SLB, including a planning lease and a Memorandum of Agreement, that gave the Partnership legitimacy, an incentive to commit to the process, and time to explore a range of strategies.

The Partnership successfully coordinated a land exchange between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the SLB that benefited both agencies. Through this transaction, the BLM will allow local landowners to acquire several small, scattered, difficult-to-manage parcels within Routt County to raise approximately $17 million needed to acquire the Emerald Mountain parcel. The exchange is currently pending the results of parcel appraisals and an environmental assessment.