And the township preserved land on the top of the cliffs for a public park.
They are sandy and sparsely inhabited, and much of their area is park or preserved land.
Prices vary from $25,000 for a 500-square-foot summer cabin built in 1950 to $949,000 for a 4,000-square-foot 4,000-square-foot 4,000-square-footes customood Lake and abuts preserved land.
From historic Durango to glamorous Telluride and millions of acres of pristine preserved lands--as well as the prehistoric ruins of Mesa Verde National Park in between--this six-hour drive on the San Juan Skyway offers the perfect introduction to what makes Colorado's southwest so darn captivating.
By the time he was done as president in 1909, Roosevelt had increased preserved land in the United States from 40 million acres to more than 200 million.
"It is a spectacular resource," said Joseph Martens, commissioner of the state's Department of Environmental Conservation, of the new forest preserve lands.
The proposal will surely be controversial among environmentalists hoping to preserve lands like desert stretches of New Mexico where threatened species roam.
The latest possible fix, on the statewide ballot as Proposal 4, would permit the Legislature to settle the title disputes and add new forest preserve lands, namely a lake-to-lake canoe carry on the Marion River.
It was the odd combination of America's war machine, a band of determined land conservationists and a soon-to-be tarnished president that helped preserve lands that today are the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which turns 40 years old Saturday.
"We've got nearly $50 million invested by Pitkin County, Great Outdoors Colorado, which is the state of Colorado easement program, and others to preserve lands on the periphery of the Thompson Divide, Kesslerr added.
