Advocates are celebrating what they’re calling “a major win for conservation and public access” with the acquisition of land along a cluster of 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado. 

The Conservation Fund has announced securing 480-plus acres on Mount Bross — “including a key section of the popular Decalibron loop,” according to a representative, referring to the route encompassing also mounts Democrat, Cameron and Lincoln. 

In a news release, The Conservation Fund said: “Securing the land is a step forward after decades of complex land ownership and trail closures that have challenged land managers and impacted local communities that rely on outdoor recreation for economic stability.”

Owners of mining claims across the Park County peaks have expressed liability concerns over the years. That has resulted in occasional closures along the Decalibron loop, which attracted nearly 20,000 hikers last year, according to estimates by Colorado Fourteener Initiative (CFI). 

In 2023, The Conservation Fund announced buying Mount Democrat acreage that included its summit. That same year at the Kite Lake trailhead, a landowner posted a QR code leading to an online waiver to be signed by hikers bound for other parts of Decalibron.

The ownership patchwork around the route represents “a really complex puzzle,” with a “staggering” number of mining claims, CFI Executive Director Lloyd Athearn told The Gazette. The Bross acquisition, he said, “adds one more Jenga piece.”

But Bross’ summit remains in private hands, The Conservation Fund noted in its announcement — “and work continues to protect remaining inholdings in collaboration with landowners and partners.”

Since the acquisition of Democrat on the western side of Decalibron, Athearn said focus has shifted to the west side around Bross and Lincoln. 

“I’m not an expert in mining, but it would probably be very difficult for people to mine these different lands,” he said. “But you could have people who might look to have different, alternative uses. For people who love climbing fourteeners, maybe someone who decides to put up a fence or go the approach of Culebra, where a limited number of people have to pay a fee to go up.”

Another privately owned fourteener in southern Colorado, Mount Lindsey, had been marked off-limits before an online waiver system launched earlier this year. 

“Who knows what the potential scenarios are?” Athearn said of Decalibron. “But now is the time to be trying to make a number of these things happen.” 

That’s for the benefit of the alpine environment, he emphasized. 

In the case of the newly acquired land around Bross, conservationists have pointed to the upper reaches of the South Platte River “and the headwaters that sustain life far beyond the mountains,” Cara Doyle, executive director of the Mosquito Range Heritage Initiative, said in a statement. “Safeguarding this landscape supports healthy ecosystems and the communities downstream that depend on the region’s responsible recreation and stewardship.”

The 480-plus acres on Bross will be added to the surrounding national forest. The Conservation Fund indicated the transfer could be finalized within the year.