The southern Colorado horizon turns abruptly vertical, then horizontal again on the 9,600-foot, table‑top summit of Fisher’s Peak. The remains of an ancient lava flow, it has withstood a million years of howling winds and pounding storms.
Fisher’s Peak was one of the defining landmarks for pioneers on the Santa Fe Trail, and Kit Carson once guided an Army brigade against the Jicarilla Apache on its eastern flanks. So this distinctive mesa is a National Natural Landmark.
It is also the site of a second Elk Foundation conservation easement—with a third easement close in the wings. Part of the upper Purgatoire watershed that hosts an astounding 1,500 square miles of contiguous private land, as well as 24,000 elk—the state’s second largest herd—it’s also fertile ground for conservation.
With such a large block of private land, conservation easements are the single most powerful tool to assure this elk herd’s future. The easement will protect 480 acres, part of a three-phase project that should eventually conserve 800 acres of critical wildlife habitat.
The mountain itself isn’t going anywhere, and with the help of willing landowners, its wildlife will persist long into the future as well.