Conservation groups buy land to add to Rocky Mountain Park
Conservation groups have purchased 12.5 acres of private land inside Rocky Mountain National Park and plan to turn it over to the park.
Moraine Park in Rocky Mountain National Park in 1998. (Courtesy John Fielder)
ESTES PARK, Colo. (AP) — Conservation groups have purchased 12.5 acres of private land inside Rocky Mountain National Park and plan to turn it over to the park.
The three organizations said Thursday the land is in the Wild Basin area at the south end of the park and offers scenic views of the mountains on the Continental Divide.
They plan to demolish a house on the property and turn the driveway into a trail so the land can be added to an existing wilderness area in the park.
Reid Haughey (HOY’-ee) of the Wilderness Land Trust, one of the conservation groups, says the purchase price was about $725,000, and demolishing the house will cost up to $50,000 more.
The Rocky Mountain Conservancy and the National Park Trust also helped with the purchase.