Ducks Unlimited Advances Wetlands Conservation via Keep It Colorado’s Grant Program
Investment supports land trusts and their landowners’ voluntary conservation efforts
Nov. 30, 2023 – GOLDEN – In a new partnership, Keep It Colorado has received a commitment of up to $50,000 from Ducks Unlimited (DU) to support Keep It Colorado’s grant program, the Transaction Cost Assistance Program (TCAP). TCAP provides financial support to Colorado’s land conservation community to help cover costs associated with conservation easement transactions, which protect land in perpetuity. Specifically, Keep It Colorado will apply DU’s investment toward conservation projects that involve Colorado wetlands and benefit migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife and natural resources.
Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) co-developed TCAP with Keep It Colorado in 2021, and has since primarily funded the program, along with additional support from Gates Family Foundation and private donors. DU’s gift further expands the pool of financial resources available for TCAP and, in turn, helps landowners interested in conservation.
“We were thrilled when Ducks Unlimited approached us with their wish to support this program and advance a common vision to protect Colorado’s wetlands,” said Amy Beatie, executive director of Keep It Colorado. “We know this will be a popular option for land trusts applying for a grant, as many project applications we’ve seen over the years include a wetlands component. We thank DU for leaning in to support this important conservation funding effort.”
DU’s gift to TCAP will enable one to two wetlands-related conservation projects to come to fruition. TCAP grants are offered at a maximum of $50,000 each, and have the potential to conserve hundreds, if not thousands, of acres across Colorado.
“DU, via our land trust Wetlands America Trust, Inc., is a long-time member of Keep It Colorado, and we are proud to further support the TCAP program that has been instrumental in protecting habitat throughout Colorado,” said John Denton, DU’s Colorado manager of conservation programs. “This highly collaborative and well-organized granting program will allow DU to expand wetland conservation assistance in Colorado far more effectively than we could on our own.”
Since 2021, Keep It Colorado has awarded $928,915 in TCAP grant assistance to Colorado land trusts. This aid will have enabled land trusts to help landowners complete 23 conservation projects on 27,487 acres of land by June 30, 2025, and leverage $23.6 million in state tax credits. Demand for transaction cost assistance continues to increase as more landowners are motivated to conserve land. Applications far outweigh available funds. In total, the cumulative funding requests Keep It Colorado has received since 2021 reached $2,020,592 as of summer 2023.
Continuing this program, and increasing the amount of funding available through partners such as GOCO and DU, will be central to helping Keep It Colorado and its coalition members advance goals of Conserving Colorado: A 10-year Roadmap for the Future of Private Land Conservation over the next decade – including the community’s collective goals to conserve 3.3 million acres by 2033.
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Photo: Wetlands along the Rio Grande on the Encantada Ranch. Courtesy Rio de la Vista
