Ann Johnston is Executive Director of the Crested Butte Land Trust (CBLT), a conservation organization that protects land in Crested Butte and Gunnison County, Colorado. Given the focused geographic area in which CBLT operates, Ann and her team must be creative and nimble, and they use a variety methods to protect a diverse array of landscapes, from large-acreage rural ranches to small in-town parcels. CBLT must also balance the competing priorities of Gunnison County’s various stakeholders—ranchers, hikers, bikers, skiers, businesses, and tourists, just to name a few. In an area of the West that is becoming more and more popular, CBLT’s work has never been more important.
I’ve long admired Ann’s ability to think outside the box and effectively execute her plans, so I was excited to get a chance to sit down with her in CBLT’s Crested Butte office. We had a fun conversation in which we discussed her personal connection to conservation, the challenges and opportunities of operating in such a tight-knit community, conservation success stories, specific methods for saving land, advice for aspiring conservationists, and much more– see below for a full list of the topics we discussed. Enjoy!
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Episode Notes
Topics Covered
Information Referenced
- Peanut Lake conservation project
- Lower Loop
- Snodgrass Trailhead
- Elevation Outdoors Snodgrass article
- Ed’s Snodgrass Trailhead photos
- Promontory Ranch
- Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO)
- Colorado conservation tax credits
- Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts (CCLT)
- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
- The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
- Author Nick Hornby
- 180 South
- Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
- Ed’s list of documentaries
- 401 trail
- Oh Be Joyful trail
- Outside Magazine’s backstory on the captain of The Bounty
- CBLT calendars and gear
