The Grand Canyon Trust (GTC), a Hewlett Foundation grantee, and its partner, the Conservation Fund, have signed an exclusive purchase option that would give control of over one million imperiled acres to the conservation organizations.  The purchase represents on-the-ground conservation work on a grand scale and the chance to create a model for sustainable ranching in an area known for its rugged terrain, extraordinary beauty, and endangered environment.

Photo by Michael Collier

The purchase option covers 1,000 acres of private ranchlands along with grazing permits for more than 900,000 acres of adjoining public lands.  The nearly one million acres lie in the middle of some the nation’s most spectacular western scenery, including the Grand Canyon National Park, Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Grand Canyon Staircase, and the Kaibab National Forest.

Plans for the land include protecting old growth forests and wildlife habitats, restoring and revitalizing the land, and establishing a working ranch that will be a model for large-scale sustainable ranching.  The partnership will also continue the grazing traditions of the west, but will reduce the number of cows that graze the land, as well as taking other steps to reduce the environmental damage cows can cause.   

“This historic purchase presents the Trust and the Conservation Fund with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tie together three national monuments, two national recreation areas, eight wilderness areas and one of the nation’s crown jewel national parks, the Grand Canyon,” Bill Hedden, Executive Director of GTC told U.S. Newswire.  GTC and the Conservation Fund are now spearheading a fundraising drive to raise the money needed to finalize the sale. 

The Board of the Hewlett Foundation approved a $500,000 general support grant to the Grand Canyon Trust at its July 2004 meeting.

The goals of the Hewlett Foundation’s work in the West are to protect its great open spaces and important ecosystems, and to promote productive collaboration among a broad range of people committed to building an environmentally sustainable West.

For more about the Grand Canyon Trust, click here.

For more about the Conservation Fund, click here.

For more about the Hewlett Foundation’s Environment Program, click here.