GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE – A national park in Colorado is growing by more than 93-hundred acres! The added land features crucial ecosystems for wildlife including elk habitat and wetlands for migratory birds in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) transferred the land to the National Park Service recently. It used to be part of nearby Medano-Zapata Ranch. TNC bought the Colorado ranch in 1999 and almost immediately started developing a plan to transfer some of the land to Great Sand Dunes National Park, which was established in 2000. Some of the land was transferred to the NPS right when the park was created. Then, a 9,362-acre transfer was completed in October 2022. TNC plans to hand over another 3,200 acres in the future.
National Park News
