The vast impacts of the recent floods will surely be felt by all of us for years to come. In light of our mission to “preserve and protect open space, valleys, wetlands, streams, ranch lands, and wildlife habitat in the Estes Valley and surrounding area…,” here at EVLT we know that now is a critical time to do what we can to help our landowners and the broader community along the road to recovery.
We are thrilled to announce that EVLT has received a $35,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado to provide assistance to our landowners for short-term flood recovery needs. We are grateful to the Community Foundation for this opportunity to help steward and restore the land we are bound to protect.
This support will be available first to our conservation easement landowners who were affected by the flood. If there is funding left over, we will extend our assistance to the wider community. In addition, the grant has opened important doors for collaboration with other community organizations working on flood recovery.
Specifically, the grant money will be used for purchasing plant material to help re-vegetate areas affected by the flood. By doing this we hope to:
- Prevent the aggressive spread of noxious weeds
- Prevent further erosion
- Re-establish native plant ground cover.
For properties that have suffered flood damage, we intend to provide plant materials, including
- High-altitude native grass and forb seed mixtures
- Temporary ground cover species, such as sterile wheatgrass
- Cuttings and containerized plants, such as willows, blue spruce, and other riparian woody vegetation.
We are also putting together volunteer crews to assist with debris clean-up and planting the seeds and plants purchased through the grant. We need your help! Please contact EVLT (evlt@evlandtrust.org) if you are interested in volunteering in our flood recovery efforts. Thank you!