Success! Vail Bighorn Habitat Saved

Update: Thanks to the Eagle County Commissioners for agreeing to contribute $5 million towards preservation of the bighorn critical winter habitat. And thanks, too, to the Eagle Valley Land Trust for agreeing to manage the conservation easement that will protect this essential habitat in perpetuity. Read the Vail Daily article HERE.

Background: A south‐facing hillside in the east end of the Vail Valley has for millennia provided critical winter habitat for the sole remaining native herd of bighorn sheep in Eagle County, and perhaps the last truly native herd in Colorado.

These iconic animals travel between this winter habitat and the Eagles Nest Wilderness. Sometimes called Booth Heights, Vail Resorts’ had planned a high-density housing development on the bighorns’ habitat. With ESWA and its members support, the Town of Vail successfully condemned the parcel and defended this action against legal challenges by Vail Resorts.

Thanks to all who helped in this effort!

To learn more about this initiative and the habitat we helped protect, click here.