Land Board approves leases, policies and a modified Chico Basin allocation; board votes at a glance

The Colorado State Land Board took several formal actions during its Jan. 15, 2025 virtual meeting. Below are the principal outcomes, with motions, tallies and core details drawn from the meeting record.

Votes at a glance

1) Solid minerals mining production lease 117109 — Kit Carson County - Motion: Approve solid minerals mining production lease 117109 (sand and gravel) as described in the board packet. - Mover: Commissioner Josie Heath. Second: (recorded). Vote: 5–0 (Scanlon, Heath, Clark, Chavez and chair voted yes). - Key details from staff presentation: Lease area 640 acres; mining disturbance limited to <40 acres at a time; CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) acres in the parcel are excluded from mining; annual rent $5/acre ($3,200/yr); royalty $0.74/ton; advanced minimum royalty (AMR) $15,000 (effective year 2); year‑2 minimum revenue $18,200 and a potential high‑production revenue scenario stated in staff materials as $4,041,000/yr if production volumes rise. - Outcome: Approved; staff to manage access, environmental and cultural surveys before operations commence.

2) Interagency lease to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (state wildlife areas) — Lease 117096 - Motion: Approve a new 10-year lease to Colorado Parks and Wildlife for state wildlife area management of ~19,000 acres of state trust land as described in the packet. - Mover: Commissioner Thomas (recorded in packet text). Second: Commissioner Heath. Vote: 5–0. - Key details: New lease adds roughly 6,500 acres to the previous state-wildlife-area lease, includes a CPI-based annual rent escalator, requires CPW approval for improvements on trust land and reserves the board’s rights to consider other revenue uses. - Outcome:…