Our Concerns

Price Fixing and Manipulation in the Colorado Conservation Easement Program Have Harmed Landowners and Colorado Taxpayers

  • Citizens followed the law and several years after the easements were in place the Department of Revenue (DOR) arbitrarily decided the easement were invalid.
  • The land trust community and the State of Colorado falsely claimed that the citizens participated in a SCAM against the State of Colorado and proceeded to publicize that incorrect information.
  • Appraisers licensed by Colorado who had been doing their job for years and not had disciplinary actions were suddenly “doing bad appraisals” and were sanctioned.
  • GOCO (Great Outdoors Colorado) hired special appraisers to evaluate appraisals provided to Department of Revenue to devalue those easements. Janis Whisman led the charge against the citizens of the State of Colorado.
  • The citizens hired attorneys; complied with DOR administrative processes; filed court cases; and lost.
  • Bonds for appealing to court were set unreasonably high.
  • DOR provided citizens with two options…settle on our terms…or pay unreasonably high penalties and interest and run the risk of losing your generational ranch or farm you dearly love…
  • The citizens chose to keep the land and not risk the seemingly unfair manipulation of the court system resulting in crushing financial burdens for participating in good faith in a Colorado program.
  • Despite the disallowance of tax credits which caused financial ruin, the easements remain recorded on the property deed and restrict the landowner’s use of the property thereby devaluing the property in perpetuity.
  • Eventually, GOCO completed a study and learned that there were problems and stated so in a report called “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow”.
  • The land trusts led legislation “claiming” they were working to correct the problems and formed the Conservation Easement Oversight Commission (CEOC) to review the appraisals. With this creation came certified appraisers, certified land trusts, and more fees to the landowners to apply – and still no certainty that the tax credit would not be reduced by CEOC thereby devaluing the property of the landowners and their neighbors.
  • Minutes from the CEOC proved they were not operating according to the Colorado State Statutes. This information was provided to the Attorney General’s office along with a letter to Governor Hickenlooper. No Action was taken.
  • The CEOC was due to sunset and much studying revealed problems with the CEOC and their lack of attention to the law. The State audited them and revealed statutory violations. The land trust lobbyist with their millions of dollars lobbied on behalf of keeping the CEOC even though it was clear it should have been dissolved. It is still in place today.
  • The CEOC arbitrarily reduced appraisals and denied easements. The result was price fixing on not only the land with the easement, but every landowner in the state of Colorado.