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Index: Environment / Subcategory: Use of Resources

Open Lands

Date posted: 02/02/2005

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The Larimer County Open Lands Program was implemented in November of 1995, as a result of the Help Preserve Open Spaces Initiative. The intent of the program is to protect, acquire, improve and maintain open space, natural areas, wildlife habitat, parks, and trails in Larimer County and its communities.

The program uses revenue from a county-wide quarter-cent sales and use tax. A little over of half of this revenue is redistributed to Larimer County cities and towns. The communities use the revenue to acquire land, buy conservation easements, and improve existing parks and open lands within the community. The Larimer County Open Lands Program uses the remainder of the revenue to acquire and manage additional land. The Open Lands program also uses this revenue to leverage other funds. According to the Open Lands Annual Report 2003, every $1.00 of Larimer County's portion of the tax revenue was used to leverage an additional $2.43 in grants and donations. See Additional Information for more on how Open Lands sales and use tax revenue is used and distributed.

The Open Lands Program acquires land by two methods:

Conservation easement: In a conservation easement, the landowner sells or donates the right to develop a piece of land. This agreement might be temporary (lasting for a certain number of years) or permanent.

Fee-simple: In a fee-simple acquisition, the Open Lands program buys the land from the landowner at a fair market price.

'Open Lands' acquisitions are protected from most development. When selecting acquisitions and planning their use, the Open Lands Advisory Board (which includes appointed community members, one elected official, and one member from the Larimer County Planning Commission) balances the need to protect natural resources and land in its original state against the needs of the public to experience nature and access the land. Land used for agriculture may or may not continue to be farmed by the owner. Other acquisitions may be developed solely for the purposes of recreation, with Open Lands staff adding trails or overlooks. In some cases, motorized vehicles might be prohibited, or certain parts of the land may be inaccessible to the public. In other cases, the whole acquisition may be entirely off-limits to the public (if the acquisition consists of conservation easements on private land, sensitive wildlife habitat, etc.).

What this chart shows: Open Lands Acreage by Type of Acquisition

Open Lands Acreage by Type of Acquisition

Data Source: Larimer County Open Lands Program

See data table

What these data tell us:

The total acreage in the Larimer County Open Lands Program increased by 93% from 1999 to 2003. In terms of square miles, the total acreage increased from 13.2 square miles in 1999 to 25.6 square miles in 2003 (640 acres = 1 square mile).

The number of conservation easement acres increased by 48% (from 8.7 square miles to 12.9 square miles) during this same time, while the number of fee-simple acres increased by 180% (from 4.6 square miles to 12.8 square miles). The larger increase in fee-simple acres represents a greater stability in Open Lands acquisitions, as fee-simple acquisitions remain a part of the Open Lands Program unless the County sells the land.

What this chart shows: Open Lands Acreage by Public Access

Open Lands Acreage by Public Access

Data Source: Larimer County Open Lands Program

See data table

What these data tell us:

The number of acres open to the public increased by 239% from 1999 to 2003. In terms of square miles, the number of public access acres increased from 2.0 square miles in 1999 to 6.9 square miles in 2003 (640 acres = 1 square mile). The number of acres designated as 'future public access' increased by 438% during this same time (from 2.7 square miles to 14.8 square miles), while the number of acres without public access decreased by 50% (from 8.0 square miles to 4.1 square miles).

'Future public access' acres include lands which are not yet open to the public, but which will be open to the public in the future. Acres designated as 'no public access' may be protected from the public for various reasons. They may be conservation easements under private ownership, or they may contain sensitive plant life or wildlife habitats.

What this chart shows: Open Lands Dollars by County, Cities and Towns

Open Lands Dollars by County, Cities and Towns

Data Source: Larimer County Open Lands Program

See data table

What these data tell us:

 The total amount of revenue in the Open Lands Program increased by $1,024,282 (14%) from 1999 to 2003. The amount of revenue allocated to the Larimer County fund and to the cities and towns increased for all cities and towns except Estes Park. The revenue allocated to Estes Park decreased by $6,334 (.03%) from 1999 to 2003. See Additional Information for more on how Open Lands revenue is used and distributed.

What this chart shows: Distribution of Open Lands Tax Dollars

Distribution of Open Lands Tax Dollars

Data Source: Larimer County Open Lands Program

See data table

What these data tell us:

 In 2003, Larimer County cities and towns received 59% of the total Open Lands sales and use tax revenue. The communities used the money to purchase conservation easements, develop trails, and improve park facilities. The Larimer County Open Lands Program received 41% of the total tax revenue in 2003. This money was allocated partly for acquiring land or conservation easements, and partly for future management of open lands. See Additional Information for more on how the tax revenue is used and distributed. For details on each community's activities, see page 8 of the Open Lands Program's 2003 Annual Report.

Additional Information:

55% of the revenue generated by the Open Space sales and use tax is redistributed to Larimer County cities and towns. The proportion of this 55% that each community receives is recalculated annually. The proportion is calculated using either population size or the amount of sales tax collected by the community, whichever calculation affords the community the larger amount of revenue.

After municipal funds have been allocated, the remaining fund balance (not less that 35%) which is Larimer County's portion is distributed as follows:

On Compass -

Outside Compass -

Industry Standards or Targets:

N/A

Data Tables:

Larimer County Open Lands Acreage by Type of Acquisition

Year

Total Acres

Fee-Simple Acres

Conservation Easement Acres

1999

8,475

2,918

5,557

2000

12,198

5,718

6,480

2001

13,180

5,887

7,293

2002

14,223

6,155

8,068

2003

16,404

8,168

8,236

See chart

Larimer County Open Lands Acreage by Public Access

Year

Public Access Acres

Future Public Access Acres

No Public Access Acres

1999

1,307

1,758

5,170

2000

2,116

4,525

5,557

2001

2,116

4,924

6,168

2002

2,148

3,961

7,287

2003

4,426

9,453

2,594

See chart

Larimer County Open Lands Program Dollars

Year

Total Dollars

Larimer County

Fort Collins

Loveland

Estes Park

Berthoud

Wellington

1999

$7,444,243

$3,067,810

$2,850,066

$1,146,823

$224,779

$101,539

$47,494

2000

$8,030,585

$3,294,869

$3,109,001

$1,234,060

$222,608

$110,862

$53,444

2001

$8,640,099

$3,568,100

$3,326,105

$1,322,293

$230,070

$122,993

$64,646

2002

$8,483,392

$3,527,084

$3,235,748

$1,304,378

$218,802

$124,129

$67,642

2003

$8,468,525

$3,532,580

$3,205,119

$1,314,655

$218,445

$123,913

$66,730

See chart

Distribution of Open Lands Dollars - Larimer County

Location

Larimer County

Fort Collins

Loveland

Estes Park

Berthoud

Wellington

Percentage of Revenue

41%

38%

16%

3%

1%

1%

See chart