While Denying Family-Run Mining Operation
The Colorado State Land Board authorized $683,000 in conservation expenditures from its Improvement and Development Fund at the January 21-22 meeting while denying a third-generation family business permission to restart a decorative rock picking operation that generated $2,860 annually.
The board approved $500,000 for Michigan River Camp, a Colorado State Forest Service training facility at Colorado State Forest in Jackson County, and $183,000 for fencing and livestock water systems to protect fens and wetlands across seven properties. Both votes passed with little discussion.
High Plains Stone’s request to resume operations on their Fremont County lease—held since 1990—died on staff recommendation. Staff told the board they’ve worked since 2021 to phase out decorative rock picking leases because they “generate relatively low financial returns compared to their physical disturbance and lease management burdens on Staff.”
Tyler Moorefield appealed the denial in his Request for Review. “We believe that we can operate in a way that will provide enough financial incentive to the board,” Moorefield wrote. “Before the passing of our grandmother, we want to continue to run her business. We are the third generation of the family business.”
Staff recommended upholding the denial. The lease remains in reclamation-only status, ending 34 years of mineral production by the Moorefield family.
The Michigan River Camp expenditure supports a partnership between CSFS and Colorado State University. The facility will serve forestry staff, CSU students, firefighters, K-12 schools, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. CSFS secured a $1.23 million lead gift from Karin Utterback-Normann, a retired agricultural economist and former Routt County ranch owner, plus additional private funds toward the $3 million capital campaign.
State Land Board contributes 25 percent of the $2 million building cost. At lease termination, the board deducts its percentage contribution from the appraised value payment to CSFS—recovering the investment over time while providing immediate use of the facility.
The $183,000 fen and wetland protection request funds 6.32 miles of wildlife-friendly fencing and livestock water system improvements across Park, Jackson, Lake, and Saguache counties. Projects target 105.6 acres on seven properties where fens have degraded from “historic peat mining, loss of water from ditching, and long-standing practice of using fens as sole source of water for livestock.”
Staff justified the expenditure by citing enhanced ecosystem services, flood attenuation, erosion reduction, water quality improvements, biodiversity enhancement, carbon sequestration, and wildlife habitat value. The request explicitly linked fen protection to potential revenue from “voluntary biodiversity markets” as they “continue to develop.”
Those markets remain speculative. High Country Advocate’s November 2025 Carbon Game investigation showed State Land Board carbon sequestration claims at Bohart Ranch exceeded realistic rates by 13 to 22 percent. The fen request uses similar reasoning—claiming future revenue from unproven markets to justify current conservation spending.
The $183,000 breaks down to $171,000 for fencing and $12,000 for water systems. Largest single project targets Sherman Creek Fens in Park County: $60,000 to fence 80 acres. Cover Mountain Fen receives $22,500 for half-mile fencing plus pipe feed repair. Boundary Fence project gets $41,000 for 1.5 miles of new fencing.
Each project removes livestock access from sensitive wetland areas while developing alternative water sources. Staff linked the work to multiple policy documents: the 2026 Fen Stewardship Action Plan, the 2021 Greater Sage-Grouse Stewardship Action Plan, Governor Polis’s Wildly Important Goal to complete 30 conservation projects by June 30, 2026, and the FY26 Business Plan goal to “identify high priority wetlands and pursue at least five projects in FY26.”
The board also approved the five-year Fen Stewardship Action Plan 2026-2030, renewing management protocols for 20 fens on approximately 1,500 acres. Seven new fen sites have been identified since the 2020 plan. Almost all fen properties lease for grazing and recreation.
Accomplishments from the 2020-2025 period include field assessment and GPS mapping of 10 fens, 20 site assessments, livestock exclusion fence construction around Railroad Fen, development of a grazing management plan with the Railroad Fen lessee, and hiring a “fen expert/contractor” to evaluate conditions and draft enhancement plans for three fens.
The plan’s stated goals balance “Resource Conservation” with “Resource Development”—protecting fens while managing uses that provide return to beneficiaries. Staff assured the board that “actions contemplated by SAP will result in enhanced stewardship outcomes for fens on state trust lands and are unlikely to have a negative impact on agency revenues.”
That assurance contradicts the spending pattern. Michigan River Camp returns investment only at lease termination through appraised value deduction. Fen protection explicitly restricts grazing—the primary revenue source on those properties—while claiming speculative biodiversity market income. High Plains Stone generated documented revenue, however modest, without speculative market assumptions.
Director Nicole Rosmarino’s seven months leading State Land Board show clear priorities. The agency spends heavily on conservation infrastructure while systematically eliminating low-revenue extractive uses regardless of family business considerations or historical tenure.
Biodiversity Program Manager Lindsey Brandt leads both the Fen Stewardship Action Plan and the integration of Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s State Wildlife Action Plan into State Land Board operations. The newly hired Stewardship Trust Manager, Carla DeMasters, brings credentials as a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner and Professional Wetland Scientist with 20 years restoration ecology experience.
Staff hiring patterns, spending priorities, and operational decisions align with conservation ideology rather than revenue generation. The board claims fiduciary duty to maximize returns for beneficiaries. The $683,000 expenditure package advancing speculative biodiversity markets while denying a $2,860-per-year family mining operation suggests otherwise.
Support Independent Local Journalism — High Country Advocate was created as a real alternative to regional media that too often silences dissenting voices while taking sides in the political struggle. Producing in-depth, unflinching reporting like this series and others is expensive: servers, editing, research time, and legal review all add up quickly. If these articles have informed you or given you new perspective, please consider supporting HCA with a paid subscription — every subscriber helps keep this reporting strong and independent. 