Western Slope Champions
Overcoming environmental liability issues to remediate and restore mine distressed lands.
Learn MoreAbout Our Vision
TLR, incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is dedicated to
understanding and overcoming environmental liability issues so that abandoned mines in the west can be remediated and restored.
The Trust for Land Restoration is a team of dedicated professionals from environmental consulting, law, conservation, business, government relations, and public policy, who deeply care about the environment, and who have chosen to give back by donating time and talent to
help the communities TLR serves. This is especially important because so many of the communities TLR works with are small, Western Slope towns with limited financial resources.
Peru Creek Assessment, Summit County
TLR organized state and federal regulators with the U.S.F.S. to assess mining claims subject to increasing development. 188 acres were acquired and conserved as open space; 150 acres placed in conservation easement; 20 dangerous mine openings identified and closed; and other sites targeted for federal cleanup.
San Miguel River Restoration Assessment
The San Miguel River, in southwest Colorado, is one of the west’s last free flowing rivers. This assessment helped to identify and prioritize restoration reaches and activities that will help restore and maintain those elements and processes.
Canyon Creek Watershed Assessment
Within a 26-square-mile area that contains the Canyon Creek drainage basin, lie scores of mining sites and the impacts of their mining past, including waste rock and tailing piles, surrounded by countless dilapidated mining structures and portal openings.
Yankee Girl Claim Site Assessment
The historic Red Mountain Mining District at one time housed hundreds of workers and provided the supplies necessary for the mines, smelters, and railroads that operated in the area. Much of the mineral production of that era came from the Yankee Girl.
Garard Property Management Plan
Ouray County, in partnership with the Trust for Land Restoration, has acquired the property formerly owned by Marlene Garard for the purpose of maintaining and preserving its conservation values, historical use and natural and manmade features.
Into the Field!
The Garard family of Ouray acquired several mining claims and Ironton Town Site Lots in the Ironton Park area of Ouray County. The property contains mining remains and a historic building that was part of the Larson Brothers Mine near U.S. Highway 550. Forests of conifers and aspen have overgrown most of the parcels since their human occupation, providing attractive natural settings amidst dramatic mountains for visitors to view the historic building and other mining remains.
TLR worked with landowner Marlene Garard and other stakeholders to ensure public access and historic protection. TLR assisted Ouray County to purchase the parcels in 2002 with grant funds, and accepted a conservation easement on the property to protect it forever from inappropriate development. TLR worked with Ouray County and the Ouray County Historical Society to develop a Management Plan implemented by the County, and continues to visit and monitor the property to protect the historic, scenic, and natural values.
Ecosystems are not only more complex than we think, but more complex than we can think.Frank Egler