Boulder County Parks & Open Space’s mission is to conserve natural, cultural, and agricultural resources and provide public uses that reflect sound resource management and community values. The county achieves this through preserving rural lands, community buffers and cultural resources; providing recreational experiences while protecting open space resources; and supporting sustainable agriculture. The county has conserved over 104,000 acres of open space from the plains to the Continental Divide. Approximately 65,000 acres are fee-owned, and 39,000 acres are private properties subject to conservation easements or similar restrictions. Several work divisions manage these land and water resources. The Real Estate Division at Parks & Open Space handles all real estate matters, including new acquisitions, conservation easement amendments, condemnations/takings of land, access by third parties with legal rights, and protection of conservation values from surface disturbance by oil and gas activities. The conservation easement team is housed within this division and is responsible for stewarding 840+ conservation easement properties through monitoring, reviewing development proposals to ensure consistency with conservation easement terms, building and maintaining strong working relationships with the landowners, and resolving violations.