Lottery money for presevation, outdoor rec coming to the region
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- Created on Wednesday, 08 December 2010 23:40
- Written by Aaron Linn
(Photo of the Gaffney Ranch in Teller County, courtesy of the Palmer Land Trust)
By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD
THE GAZETTE
State lottery funds will help pay for a trailhead in Fountain, cleanup work at Rainbow Falls in Manitou Springs, an artificial turf field in Rush and preservation of a ranch in Teller County, all outlined in grants approved Wednesday by Great Outdoors Colorado.
The GOCO board voted to spend $24 million in 32 counties across Colorado for parks projects and the preservation of 13,595 acres. The voter-approved agency gets half of the lottery revenue.
The largest grant in the Pikes Peak region went to the Palmer land Trust, $640,000 for a conservation easement on the Gaffney Ranch, a cattle ranch on Teller County Road 11 southwest of the Dome Rock State Wildlife Area. The trust will pay owner Jack Gaffney Jr. to keep the 548 acres undeveloped. Limited public access for hunters is planned.
“It’s a beautiful property. It straddles the Gold Belt Byway, so all the people traveling on the byway get to look at this great agricultural property,” said Amanda Hill, project specialist for the Palmer Land Trust. “It’s one of the last remaining large ranches on the western slope of Pikes Peak that has not been developed or protected.”
The GOCO board also approved $41,735 for improvements to Rainbow Falls, the graffiti-scarred waterfall below U.S. Highway 24 just west of Manitou Springs. El Paso County owns the land and is drawing up a master plan for the site. In the meantime, the money will go to construction of parking, trails, benches and erosion control, said county commissioner Sallie Clark.
“It’s the beginning to a really good project that will one day become the gem that it once was in our region and a community asset,” Clark said. No date is set for work to begin. A separate $17,000 Community Development Block Grant will fund security at the site, including remote cameras, Clark said.
Other local projects approved by GOCO Wednesday are $200,000 to the Miami-Yoder School District for an artificial turf sports field in Rush and $200,000 for a trailhead in Fountain to connect Fountain Creek and Jimmy Camp Creek.
Click here to see a complete list of projects in the state. GOCO voted to fund 55 of 108 requested projects. The grants are awarded twice a year.
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