by Estes Valley Land Trust | Sep 2, 2026 | Uncategorized
EVLT closed out the summer with our last breakfast event of 2026. Our August breakfast focused on Indigenous-led conservation and the importance of Tribal knowledge in caring for the lands we all cherish. Speakers James Calabaza, Jordan Dresser, and Crystal C’Bearing shared perspectives on what conservation means within their communities, highlighting the value of collaboration between Tribal and non-Tribal partners. Their thoughtful discussion challenged attendees to consider how stronger relationships, mutual respect, and shared stewardship can shape the future of conservation.
Jordan Dresser, an award-winning filmmaker, former Chairman of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, and current Curator of Collections at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, has spent his career sharing Indigenous stories that inspire deeper understanding through films such as Who She Is and What Was Ours.
Joining by him was James Calabaza, Director of the Indigenous Lands Program at Trees, Water & People. Working alongside Tribal Nations across the American Southwest, James helps build partnerships that honor Tribal sovereignty and bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities together to promote large-scale landscape conservation.
The program also welcomed Crystal C’Bearing, Director of the Northern Arapaho Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Her work safeguards the history, language, and cultural resources of the Northern Arapaho people throughout their ancestral migratory territory, ensuring future generations remain connected to their heritage and the landscapes that shaped it.
Together, these speakers shared stories demonstrating that conservation is strongest when it embraces diverse voices and honors those who have cared for these lands since time immemorial. For the Estes Valley Land Trust, protecting open space means more than preserving beautiful landscapes. It means fostering meaningful relationships, learning from one another, and ensuring that the lands we love continue to thrive for generations to come.
Learn more about the speakers and their work below
https://treeswaterpeople.org/
The Collections at FCMoD
THPOs Play an Important Role in Historic Preservation
by Estes Valley Land Trust | Aug 24, 2026 | Uncategorized
Photo Credits : José Chalit (Trees, Water, & People)
The Estes Valley Land Trust is proud to have partnered with Trees, Water & People, Montezuma Land Conservancy, and the Historic Park Theatre to showcase a short film produced by filmmaker Treston Chee. Rooted is a short narrative documentary that focuses on the journey of tribal access to traditional homelands and watershed restoration through the Traditional Harvest Project. Members of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, private landowners and key partner voices lead the story of Indigenous land access in southwest Colorado. The film portrays an Indigenous movement of rematriation to land, spirituality, community and the natural world.
Audiences heard a panel discussion featuring Jeffrey Boring, Executive Director of the Estes Valley Land Trust, Travis Custer, executive director of Montezuma Land Conservancy, Ernest House Jr., senior policy director and director for tribal and Indigenous engagement at the Keystone Policy Center, and Wyatt Wilson, a cross-cultural program coordinator working jointly with Montezuma Land Conservancy and Trees, Water & People, Montezuma Land Conservancy staff.
While the film is not yet publicly available, you can learn more about the work of Trees, Water & People and Montezuma Land Conservancy and how they are leading the way in Indigenous-led conservation at the resources below.
by Estes Valley Land Trust | Jun 30, 2026 | Uncategorized
Safe Passage for Wildlife: Transportation Solutions to Protect Wildlife
The land trust hosted its first educational breakfast event of the year on Saturday June
27th highlighting efforts to increase safety for wildlife and drivers in Colorado. The event was
held at the Salvation Army’s High Peak Camp.
Estes Park is known for its remarkable wildlife and healthy habitats that support elk, deer,
sheep, mountain lions, and countless other species. Yet, many of us have experienced the
heartbreak of seeing wildlife injured or killed along our roadways, a reminder of the challenges
animals face as they move through increasingly busy landscapes. Wildlife-vehicle collisions
affect not only animals, but also the safety of residents and visitors who share these roads every
day.
Wildlife crossings structures are emerging as solutions to mitigate habitat fragmentation and
facilitate safe wildlife movement across high-traffic corridors. These crossings, which include
overpasses, underpasses, and miles of strategic fencing, have successfully guided animals to
safety. Colorado is leading the country in the construction of wildlife passages. Our state
has constructed more wildlife crossings than any other state in the country, and is home to
North America’s largest overpass, located in Douglas County over I-25. While Colorado’s large-
scale crossing structures have gained national attention, Colorado also has several highly
successful wildlife crossings explicitly built to protect small, rural mountain communities that
suffer from high rates of wildlife-vehicle collisions.
Breakfast attendees heard from two guest speakers who discussed how these projects are
planned and implemented, with a focus on the I-25 overpass: Dr. Rick Knight from Colorado
State University and Chuck Attardo from the Colorado Department of Transportation. Their work
shows how collaboration between science and public infrastructure is helping to create a safer
future for both Colorado’s wildlife and the people who travel through these landscapes every
day.
Learn more at these resources below.
Enacted 2026 CO Crossings Leg Coalition Factsheet
Sometimes, the simplest things can help wildlife
Home
by Estes Valley Land Trust | Jul 8, 2020 | Uncategorized
Amy Plummer, volunteer monitor and board member, took us along as she monitored a private conservation easement near Old Man Mountain. Enjoy the great views and wildflowers with her!
by Estes Valley Land Trust | May 22, 2020 | Uncategorized
Photo by Jim Ward
Spring has sprung here in the valley! The wildflowers are blooming, elk are calving, and baby birds are learning to fly.
We wanted to share these videos of a family of owls growing up in the Estes Valley this spring. The three owlets are fledging this week, and will be moving out of the nest soon enough.
Local videographer Rick Martinez has been documenting this family, and you can watch three of our favorite videos here:
Owlets Playing in Their Nest
Owlets Testing Their Wings
Owlets Learning to Fly
by Estes Valley Land Trust | May 15, 2020 | Uncategorized
Our community has learned time and time again that we depend on each other to survive and thrive. We build relationships in the good times and lean on each other in the tough times.
Lichens are valuable to our ecosystems, converting CO2 to oxygen, creating valuable plant habitat, and providing nesting materials to critters. Lichen build relationships just like us – they are not one living organism, but the result of a symbiotic relationship among organisms. Without each other, they would not exist. Recently, scientists learned something new about that relationship, and this short film will tell you all about it!
