00 / The original promise
For roughly a century, the public has recreated at Sweetwater Lake. The Sweetwater community supports responsible development and recreation that protects public safety, preserves wildlife habitat, and respects the lake’s natural character.
The community strongly supported the original Save the Lake campaign that helped secure public ownership. Unfortunately, conservation promises made by Eagle Valley Land Trust (EVLT) and The Conservation Fund (TCF) during that fundraising campaign are not reflected in the Draft EIS.
Ken Wright, a Save the Lake donor, has asked EVLT to include one limited request in its Draft EIS comment: that the Forest Service make Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW)’s (CPW) own High-priority protections for raptor habitat and elk/mule deer habitat enforceable terms of the Record of Decision and any Special Use Permit. The request does not ask EVLT to change its support for a state park or compatible recreation.
The original 2019 flyer
The preserved two-sided flyer identifies Eagle Valley Land Trust and The Conservation Fund as campaign partners. It asked people to help protect Sweetwater Lake from private development and specifically described conserving critical habitat for elk, deer, osprey, Bald Eagles and other wildlife.
“Conserving critical habitat for elk, deer, osprey, bald eagles, and other wildlife.”
Those species were not incidental. The flyer named raptors—Bald Eagles and Osprey—and ungulates—elk and deer—as part of the public-facing conservation case. The reverse called habitat protection a permanent conservation goal.
Source note: The preserved flyer carries an October 2, 2019 PDF-creation timestamp and was captured by the Internet Archive on January 20, 2021. The timestamp is file metadata, not an independently verified publication date.
The organizations’ own accounts
EVLT · June 2020
EVLT wrote that the Save the Lake campaign was raising money to supplement possible federal acquisition funding and create a long-term stewardship fund. It said EVLT was working with agency partners to enhance amenities while protecting natural and cultural resources.
Read EVLT's campaign updateThe Conservation Fund · July 2020
TCF stated that its interim purchase would prevent development while a Forest Service transfer was pursued. Its release called Sweetwater “critical for wildlife habitat” and said protection would safeguard habitat for Bald Eagles, Osprey, elk, deer, rainbow trout and more.
Read TCF's purchase announcementThe Conservation Fund · August 2021
When the Forest Service acquired the property, TCF said the land would remain protected in perpetuity and that the acquisition would protect wildlife habitat while expanding public access. That is the conservation achievement this campaign seeks to honor.
Read TCF's 2021 announcementThe question now
The Draft EIS proposes a developed recreation program with new or expanded roads, campsites, equestrian facilities and other visitor infrastructure. CPW staff had already identified nest buffers, seasonal restrictions, elk winter range, calving habitat and deer-fawning habitat at Sweetwater. The question is not whether public access belongs here; it is whether the selected plan carries forward the wildlife protections that its own partners publicly described as central to conservation.
The Sweetwater Lake Working Group does not claim to know EVLT's or TCF's private motives, and this site does not make a legal accusation. It asks for a public answer: will the organizations that sought donations to conserve named wildlife habitat urge the Forest Service and CPW to adopt binding, site-specific raptor buffers and seasonal protections before approval?
