Dr. Marvin Beeman, MFH
of the Arapahoe Hunt
(left)
accepts the jointly sponsored MFHA/Chronicle
of the Horse Hunting Habitat Conservation Award for 2000. The
award was given in recognition of the Arapahoe’s role in saving
the 24,500-acre Lowry Bombing Range located on the outskirts of
metropolitan Denver from development. James L. Young, MFH presents
the award. |
The 2000 Hunting Habitat Conservation Award sponsored
jointly by the MFHA and the Chronicle
of the Horse was presented to the Arapahoe Hunt (GO) in ceremonies
during the MFHA Annual Meeting in New York on Friday, January 28. Joint-MFH
Marvin Beeman accepted the award on behalf of the hunt.
The Lowry Bombing Range, an immense piece of land
24,500 acres was saved
from development and put into the Colorado Land Stewardship Trust thanks to
the efforts of a broadly-based civic coalition in the Denver area. The land
parcel was given to the U.S.Army by the city of Denver and used for airborne
bombing training until the end of World War II, when the government transferred
ownership to the state of Colorado. The Bombing Range is Arapahoe's primary
hunting country, consisting of wide open prairie inhabited by fast-running
coyotes (and occasionally discovered unexploded ordnance). Just on the
outskirts of metropolitan Denver, proposals were afoot to purchase and
develop the area.
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The Arapahoe Masters Beeman, Donald J. O’Connor
and Lawrence C. Phipps, III and their secret weapon, foxhunting lawyer Ann
Allot, partnered with the city of Aurora, its mayor, the School District of
Cherry Hill, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Colorado Open Lands, the
Aurora Open Space Board, the Aurora Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, the
Denver Regional Council of Governments, the Southern Metropolitan Land
Conservancy, the Model Museum Flying Club, the Mountain Men Free Flight Club
and area landowners to include the Lowry Bombing Range in a larger
conservation effort involving some 300,000 acres overall.
In his comments, Award Committee Chairman James L.
Young, MFH paid tribute to the depth and quality of the submissions from all
four nominees. The Camargo Hunt (OH) submission from Dr. John R. Babcock,
Joint-MFH was a stunningly beautiful, professionally prepared presentation
describing that hunts role in the preservation of 2,300 acres of natural
woodlands, fields and farm within the developed Indian Hills area. The
village of Indian Hill grew out of the hunt, when, in the mid-1920s, polo
and hunting enthusiasts from the Cincinnati Riding Club began to move there.
The Radnor Hunt (PA) likewise submitted a magnificent
presentation nominating the nationally-renowned Brandywine Conservancy and
the Radnor Race Committee for the award. Over the years, the latter group
has donated $1.5 million raised from their races and other activities to the
Brandywine Conservancy. The Conservancy has saved 27,500 acres from
development by obtaining easements and deed restrictions and, in addition,
has purchased 1,827 acres outright.
Completing the submissions was that of the Tall
Timbers Research Station of Tallahassee, Florida, nominating Marty and
Daphne Wood, MFHs of the Live Oak Hunt (FL) for their active and financial
support of the Station’s research and conservation activities. The efforts
and accomplishments of all these dedicated sportsmen and women illustrate by
deed the value of foxhunting to the community
- NMF
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