Back in September of 2022, I held the first annual Strenuous Life Retreat at the renowned Zapata Ranch in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. The retreat consisted of five days of adventure and education inspired by Theodore Roosevelt’s well-known commitment to living “the Strenuous Life.” We hiked high into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, rode horses in Great Sand Dunes National Park, and enjoyed world-class meals. And each afternoon, we enjoyed facilitated conversations about land stewardship, conservation, and regenerative agriculture. This episode is a recording of one of those conversations.
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I was honored to be joined by conservation veteran Nancy Fishbein, who serves as Director of Resilient Lands for the Colorado Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Nancy has been a long-standing leader in the Western conservation community, so we were all honored that she took time out of her full schedule to join us and share some stories and hard-earned wisdom. The Zapata Ranch is owned by the Nature Conservancy and managed by Ranchlands, so Nancy has a unique insight into the history of the ranch, as well as the importance of conservation in the San Luis Valley.
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We recorded this conversation at the ranch’s education center, one afternoon after a morning of horseback riding. The first half consists of me asking the questions, and the second half consists of questions from the retreat participants. We cover everything from the history of the Zapata Ranch to the establishment of Great Sand Dunes National Park, which adjoins the ranch to the north. We talk about the conservation bison herd that calls the ranch home, and some of the ongoing challenges in the San Luis Valley created by water speculation and development. We discuss how mineral rights development can coexist with conservation, the protection of biodiversity on ranches, how TNC and the National Park Service work together, and much more. As you’ll hear, everyone in attendance was super engaged and curious about Nancy’s work, and it showed in the range of interesting and thoughtful questions.
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I hope this episode will give you a bit of insight into the types of conversations we had at the 2022 Retreat and the kind of conversations you can expect in 2023 and beyond. Colorado is blessed to have so many committed conservationists like Nancy who devote their time and energy to protecting and stewarding these spectacular landscapes, and I can’t thank Nancy enough for taking the time to join us.
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If you’re interested in joining me for the 2023 Retreat, as of this recording, there are still a few spots left. You can click here to learn more and reserve your spot. Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy!
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TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- 3:30 - A quick intro to Nancy
- 5:30 - The story of the Education Center on Zapata Ranch
- 7:00 - How Zapata Ranch first got onto TNC’s radar
- 10:00 - How TNC goes about acquiring properties like Zapata Ranch
- 12:15 - Why the previous owner of Zapata Ranch did not charge TNC full fair market value for the property
- 13:30 - The importance of relationships in TNC’s work
- 15:30 - What happened after TNC acquired Zapata Ranch
- 18:15 - Explaining a conservation easement
- 20:00 - Why the bison herd on Zapata Ranch were such a focal point of TNC’s conservation work there
- 22:15 - Why TNC has chosen to hold onto Zapata Ranch as an owner for so long
- 25:45 - How TNC works with various levels of government agencies
- 27:30 - Nancy’s biggest concern for the San Luis Valley
- 29:00 - The most recent scheme to remove water from the San Luis Valley
- 31:45 - Audience questions begin
- 32:00 - Whether or not Nancy wished that TNC had done something different in their acquisition of Zapata Ranch
- 32:45 - Nancy’s surprises and lessons learned about Zapata
- 34:30 - Why an easement cannot be put on San Luis Valley’s aquifer
- 36:15 - TNC’s role in the establishment of Baca Wildlife Refuge and the Great Sand Dunes National Park
- 40:45 - The distinction between a national park and a national monument
- 41:30 - How the TNC navigated purchasing land that was managed by a private company (Rocky Mountain Bison) but on leased state land
- 42:30 - Exploring the potential causality between water export schemes in the San Luis Valley and the establishment of the Great Sand Dunes National Park
- 44:00 - Whether or not there remains the appetite for bipartisan action, such as the kind that led to the creation of the Great Sand Dunes National Park, in our current political climate
- 45:00 - Exploring TNC’s support of agriculture as a conservation service
- 43:30 - Whether or not TNC deals with agricultural leases
- 51:30 - How easements impact mineral and mining rights on a property
- 53:30 - How fracking might complicate conservation easements, and whether or not easements are a successful tool for reducing oil and gas development
- 55:45 - How TNC measures success in its conservation work and the preservation of biodiversity on a property, and how they respond to and act on those measurements
- 1:00:55 - What TNC is working on right now in Colorado
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