Our History

The Central Colorado Conservation District is a political subdivision of the State of Colorado with the authorities, powers, and structure enumerated in Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 35, Article 70. We were organized under the Colorado Soil Conservation Act of 1937 and established by referendum of landowners with a certificate of organization issued by the Colorado Secretary of State on January 5, 1942. All incorporated municipalities and areas devoted exclusively to commercial or industrial uses, as they existed at the time the original District was formed, are excluded from the District.

The Central Colorado (SOIL) Conservation District (CD) was formed shortly after the United States Dust Bowl from 1930-1936 and extended drought into 1941. The first meeting was held February 10, 1942 with the organizing Board consisting of President Field Bohart, Vice President J.J. Drinkard, Secretary/Treasurer J.D. Ackerman, J.P. Emmert, and C.M. Ingle.

The ranches that were represented include the Hanna, Frost Livestock, Bohart, Chico Basin, and Norris. The total acreage was 202,300 acres. In 1943, the Banning Lewis Ranch, including all state lands, were petitioned into our geographic boundaries. The Smith Cattle Ranch was added to the District after that.

The focus of the District in those early days was to overcome the impact the ten-year drought had on their ranches and implement conservation programs. The major problems were wind and water erosion, recovering from the drought, and economic adjustments to stabilize ranch operations. The Board focused on erosion and flood control, wildlife management, irrigation system improvements, and reclaiming additional lands damaged by drought.

• Early on, the government loaned the District some equipment including a D7 Caterpillar, a 6-yard carry-all, a 2-yard scraper, and a 1 1/2 ton state truck. The District charged $4.50 per hour for use of this equipment and 7.5 cents per mile for the truck. The District also had a D2 Caterpillar of its own. The charged $2.40 per hour for the use of it.
• In 1944, the District purchased a combine. They used this combine to harvest 25,000 pounds of grass seed. The grasses included crested wheat, smooth brome, and blue gramma. Records show that in 1944, the District had deployed more equipment than any other district in the state of Colorado.
• In 1950, the District paid $500 for a rain-making program.
• At a Board meeting on December 6, 1946, the Board voted to purchase a set of skies for the Pikes Peak Sky Ranchers Flying Club. This issue was brought up due to what happened during a huge snowstorm in November of that year.
• In 1946, a joint meeting between Central Colorado and Fountain Valley (Soil) Conservation Districts was held to discuss the five surplus building they wanted to sell. Apparently, the Black Squirrel (Soil) Conservation District wanted to be involved with these buildings so the former districts charged the latter $1,000 to be partners with these buildings.
• In 1948, the District passed a motion to prevent plow out of more sod in the District.
• In 1952, the District received a conservation award from the Denver Post KLZ. The District purchased 100 tickets for the banquet, which was held at the Acacia Hotel in downtown Colorado Springs.

• In 1954, representatives of Central Colorado, Black Squirrel, and Fountain Valley (Soil) Conservation Districts met to discuss the purchase of a D6 dozer, a scraper, and a truck for $16,511. Each District's share would be $5,503.40. The Districts voted "yes" to this purchase.
• The net worth of the District in 1954 was $27,182. This was broken down into $7,900 of land and buildings, $3,500 tools and equipment, and $15,642 in cash.
• In 1961, the District's net worth was $34,745.
• In 1956, Soil Savers gave $500 to the three Districts to landscape the front of their building.
• In 1962, Fort Carson discussed signing up 400,000 acres of the District's land for maneuvers. Fort Carson wanted more land to train their 5th Division Infantry due to the Cuban situation. The training space would cover over 1,000,000 acres; they already had permits with 52 land owners. The Board discussed the request and voted "no" and informed General Manhart that they would not give maneuver rights to the military installation. One reason the Board voted no was due to the drought they were experiencing during that time. 
• In 1962, the District had 42 cooperators and the total acreage of the District was 382,000 acres. Also, in 1962, the District dispersed $1,000 they earned from land investments between Central Colorado, Black Squirrel, and Fountain Valley Districts.
• In 1976, the building had a market value of $105,000.
• The District has historically not been in favor of supporting the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) dues and in 1976, the motion to pay dues was defeated.

• However, Central Colorado CD has always supported education. The District has given 4-H scholarships and scholarships to Colorado State University (CSU). In 1970, the Board awarded student Gary Guthry a scholarship to CSU. The minutes noted that "since scholarship his grades have substantially improved."
• The District has been involved in several things from oil leases in Moffat County, supporting the El Paso County (Colorado) Fair with $1,000, and purchasing snow weasels from the Pueblo Depot.
• In 1976, the grazing fee on state lands aws $2.50 per animal unit, per month. 
• In 1977, urbanization had already become an issue.
• In 1980, "two females were employed by the NRCS" (National Resources Conservation Service) and those two women became the Utah State Conservationist and the Cheyenne Wells County Conservationist.
• In 1998, the District discussed combining with the El Paso County (Soil) Conservation District. The Board sent a letter back to Bob Cordova and state they would only be interested in consolidating if all Districts in the watershed consolidated.
• In 2001, the Colorado general assembly updated state statutes to remove the word "soil" for District titles. They recognized that when Districts were created, the names "soil conservation district" best reflected activities of such Districts throughout the state but the title change would better reflect the work of these organizations.