Our Picture of Health 1998:
Focusing on Community Health to the Year 2000CHAPTER 9: NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
LAND USE AND OPEN SPACE (PART 1)
73. Number of acres preserved for open space
There are 3,300 square miles of land in Mesa County. About 75% of all land is publicly owned, meaning it is controlled by federal, state and local agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Forest Service, the National Park Service, the state park service and local municipalities.
Because three quarters of Mesa County land is public land, it will primarily remain open space. Of the privately held land, approximately 80% is agricultural.
Acres of Open Space Per Person
- Publicly Owned — 13.90
- Privately Held — 4.74
- In Conservation — .22
Figure 9-1: Land in Mesa County, 1966
Source: Mesa County Land Use Plan
The Mesa County Land Conservancy holdings acquired through conservation easements have grown from a few hundred acres to more than 12,000 acres since 1980. A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a property owner and a land trust, enabling landowners to control the type and amount of development that may take place on their land.
A 1994 study by the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics at Colorado State University shows a direct correlation between preserved open space and strong tourism. Communities with sprawl lose tourism dollars.
May link to . . .
- Recreation
- Economy
- Health and Well-Being
Figure 9-2: Distribution of Private Lands, 1966
Source: Mesa County Environmental Scan, 1966
74. Number of Acres of Agricultural and Ranch Lands
Agricultural land in Mesa County decreased between 1987-1992. Since the early '90s the effort to increase land protected through easements may be reversing this trend.
This indicator received a mixed rating because while there is a decrease in agricultural land, there are also efforts to preserve open land in conservation easements. It also merits this rating because of the recently adopted Mesa County Land Use Plan that calls for higher density development in favor of urban sprawl.
There was a consolidation of farms between 1987 and 1992, seen in the increase in the average acreage for fewer total number of farms. By 1992 that trend was reversed, with an increase again in the number of farms, with fewer average acres for each farm.
May link to . . .
- Wages
- Economic Development
Figure 9-3: Acres of Agricultural Land, 1982-92
Source: Resource Analysis Section, Colorado Department of Agriculture
Figure 9-4: Farms and Farm Size, 1982-92
Source: Resource Analysis Section, Colorado Department of Agriculture
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