This webinar will introduce a range of creative and innovative pathways to equitable land access in the US, with in-depth profiles of cases in Colorado. These opportunities are especially relevant for beginning farmers and ranchers. Land-access models also include sharing for medicinal, ceremonial, restorative, and regenerative uses. Today we find diverse ways to practice commons-based values and cooperative management principles, with multiple options for incorporation and organizational structure. The models, hybrids, and examples shared here will open the imagination and reveal the practical possibilities of engaging multiple stakeholders, partners, and sponsors. Whether through leasing, ownership, or leasing with provisions for financial equity, the goal in each case is productive, inclusive and responsible access to land with a significant degree of self-governance.
Participants:
George Cheney, independent consultant, Cortez, CO: convenor and presenter
Presenters on specific projects:
Beth LaShell, Director, Old Fort campus of Fort Lewis College, Hesperus, CO
Stacy Lischka, Executive Director, Poudre Valley Community Farms, Laporte, CO
Molly Mazel, Deputy Director, and Austin Easter, Conservation Director, Montezuma Land Conservancy, Cortez, CO
Meg Mercier, Project Coordinator, Rio Grande Farm Park, Alamosa, CO
Details: Tuesday, April 29, 1:00-3:00 pm, MDT, via Zoom (sign-up on link below)
Sponsor: Rocky Mountain Farmers Union’s Cooperative Development Center
