About Us

Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy (GRCL) is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization based in Gunnison County, Colorado.  GRCL assists ranch families who wish to protect their lands with conservation easements.

History   GRCL was started in 1995 by two individuals with different backgrounds but similar objectives for protecting agricultural lands in their area:  Bill Trampe, an area rancher, and Susan Lohr, the director of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.  Assuming that the best way to protect ranching was to keep families on the land, they began investigating what a traditional land trust might offer to ranch families.  In the end, they realized that little conservation would happen in the ranching world without two things:

  1. Knowledgeable advocates to guide landowners through the conservation easement process, and
  2. Large amounts of funding to pay landowners for 75% of the appraised value of their conservation easement.

Susan and Bill formed a Board of Directors that established the charitable nonprofit organization formally incorporated as the Gunnison Legacy Fund, d/b/a Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy.  

We work to ensure productive agricultural lands remain part of our changing community.

To learn more about GRCL's origins, watch this 1997 CNN video on ranching in the Gunnison Country (the video begins at about 11 seconds):

GRCL CNN Video, June 1997 copy.mp4 GRCL CNN Video, June 1997 copy.mp4
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Time Magazine published an articleassociated with the video:

Completed Projects  The following chart lists GRCL conservation easement projects, the number of acres conserved and the public record document number for the conservation easement.  All conservation easements are recorded in the public record of the county in which the property is located.  We currently are working on 10 new projects for 2026-2027.  Each project takes from one to three years to complete.    The map following the chart shows the locations of the conservation easements.

Tomichi Creek Valley   In 1995, when we began to think about a process for assisting ranchers with their conservation goals, we wanted to respect landowners by not prioritizing specific landscapes.  Instead, we would maintain a “first-come, first-served” list of willing ranch families, try to find funding for each, and hopefully be able to persist for however long it takes to meet their needs.

Initially, grant sources were skeptical that we could achieve conservation without creating a priority system.  We asked for their patience, confident that over time the result would be the same, but achieved without the hard feelings that can arise from pitting those on a priority list against those who are not.  Fortunately, grant sources were sympathetic after hearing from local ranchers, and we were able to proceed as we preferred.

This map of conserved private lands in the Tomichi Creek Valley shows the result.  The map tells a story of landowners with a strong conservation ethic.  Benefits from their actions are perpetual, increasing in significance as time moves on:

  • Water rights in Tomichi Creek and its tributaries are tied to the land through conservation easements.
  • Neighbors have ranchers as neighbors.
  • Permanent prohibitions against property division and strict restrictions on residence numbers let the county know where expanded services will not be required.
  • Agricultural land is being bought and sold among ranchers at reduced prices.  Subdivision and development are no longer options for real estate speculation.
  • Wildlife populations, especially Gunnison sage-grouse but also migratory big game and numerous smaller species, thrive on conserved habitat that is adjacent to vast expanses of public lands.