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New Mexico Land Conservancy Awarded $100,000 for Trails and Open Space in Silver City

The New Mexico Land Conservancy has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the LOR Foundation for trails and open space planning and development, and municipal stream restoration in Silver City, NM. Silver City was among fifteen rural communities and towns in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming selected to equally share the $1.5 million grant – the broadest grantmaking round in the Foundation’s history.

The Conservancy’s Southern NM Project Manager, Ron Troy, based in Silver City, spearheaded the collaborative effort with local leaders to develop the successful proposal for the Silver City, highlighting the unique history of the community, its environmental opportunities and challenges, and its diverse yet united community of roughly 10,000 resourceful, independent and hardworking people who are working together to create a healthy, sustainable future.

Successful proposals demonstrated a clear vision for improving quality of life with the broad support from local government, business leaders, and community development agencies. While the challenges facing each town differ, there is a shared belief that community collaboration and engagement can produce solutions that capitalize on the strengths that make each place unique.

Other organizations and communities awarded LOR grants include:

San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition, Alamosa, CO
Central Colorado Conservancy, Chaffee County (Buena Vista and Salida, CO)
Montezuma Land Trust, Cortez, CO
Trails 2000, Durango, CO
Teton Regional Land Trust, Driggs, ID
Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley, Gunnison, CO
Kaniksu Land Trust, Sandpoint, ID
Flathead Land Trust, Columbia Falls, MT
Beaverhead Trails Coalition, Dillon, MT
Bitter Roof Land Trust, Hamilton, MT
Blackfoot Challenge, Lincoln, MT
Sanders County Community Development Corp., Thompson Falls, MT
Taos Land Trust, Taos, NM
The Wyoming Field Office of the Nature Conservancy, Lander, WY

The LOR Foundation, founded on the idea that small, rural communities ought to have the resources, tools and support they need to create thriving, beautiful places to live believe these grants will allow each community to continue planning and implementing projects to protect clean water, increase access to recreation, keep working lands productive, promote economic development, and improve public health.

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The New Mexico Land Conservancy is a statewide land trust dedicated to helping people conserve the places they love.  The Conservancy works with private landowners, community and non-profit organizations, public agencies and other public and private partners to protect significant wildlife and other natural habitat, productive agricultural lands, scenic open space, cultural resources and recreational lands through New Mexico.  To date, the Conservancy has protected over 160,000 acres of high-conservation value lands throughout New Mexico and southeast Arizona.

The LOR Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing livability and quality of life in the Intermountain West, partnering with rural communities in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming to protect the character of their towns and the landscapes that surround them.

For more information, contact:

Ron Troy, Southern New Mexico Project Manager
New Mexico Land Conservancy
(575) 574-7014
rtroy@nmlandconservancy.org
P.O. Box 1988, Silver City, NM 88062

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