TAOS — One-hundred forty-four acres within one of the highest-risk firesheds in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains is set to become the focus of a major wildfire mitigation project this summer and a new land conservation easement in coming years.
Taos Land Trust recently purchased the 15-parcel property, located near El Salto not far from Taos Ski Valley, for $1.55 million from Tom Worrell, a local philanthropist and developer who accumulated the parcels from the late 1990s through early 2000s.
By both dollars and acres, it’s the largest land purchase the 38-year-old nonprofit has completed in more than two decades, according to Executive Director Darien Fernandez, who said funding for the acquisition came from River Branch Foundation, the Worrell Foundation, the Franklin Family, Lynn Aldrich and anonymous benefactors.
Taos Land Trust plans to employ its own Youth Conservation Corps Crew alongside Rocky Mountain Youth Corps and local woodcutters to form a
