High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) Welcomes Draft Conservation Easement Language that Will Prohibit Mining and Development on Red Lady
Crested Butte, CO—Mt. Emmons Mining Company (MEMC) and the Crested Butte Land Trust have agreed to draft conservation easement language that would prohibit mining and development on MEMC’s currently held private lands and lands proposed as part of the Mt. Emmons Land Exchange. This development is a critical part of the pathway outlined by the local community to end the threat of mining on Mt. Emmons (Red Lady). Once the land exchange agreement with the United States Forest Service (USFS) is finalized, the proposed easement and extinguishment agreements will be executed. The draft easement language reads, in part: “The purpose of this Easement is to protect … Conservation Values now and in perpetuity (including without limitation, extinguishing the right to mine on or under or to develop Grantor’s Property).” These restrictions will protect the headwaters of the Gunnison River while allowing for current recreational uses to continue on the upper portion of Mt. Emmons.
HCCA’s Red Lady Program Director,Julie Nania, addressed the importance of this progress: “At the end of the land exchange process, MEMC and the Crested Butte Land Trust have agreed to implement documents that address the key concerns of local governments and stakeholder groups and would realize our shared objective—a Red Lady free from mining and development and a better-protected drinking water supply. HCCA is supportive of the draft conservation easement language and associated draft mineral extinguishment agreement.”
While the agreement on draft easement language is a monumental step forward, the conservation easements and mineral extinguishment agreement will only be executed after a successful land exchange process. Until then, lands will remain under existing land management.
The land exchange has been noticed for initial public input. “We encourage the broader community to review the conservation easement language and the initial land exchange documents and provide input to the Forest Service. We are currently encouraging the agency to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on the land exchange package as a whole as it is developed in the upcoming months,” said Brett Henderson, HCCA Executive Director.
The proposed conservation easements will help to accomplish one element of the agreements between MEMC and local governments outlined in a 2021 Memorandum of Intent. Other important steps include, amongst other things, pursuing a federal mineral withdrawal, the relinquishment of MEMC’s mining claims on surrounding lands, and disposition of water rights that are dedicated to mining at the Mt. Emmons mine site.
Information on how to engage on scoping for the proposed land exchange is available here.
