Colorado Wildlife Federation Bureau of Land Management issued a Notice of Decision to approve the Blue Valley Ranch Exchange On January 17, 2023. BLM will convey 9 parcels totaling 1,489 acres, to Blue Valley Ranch in exchange for its privately owned 1,830 acres in Grand and Summit Counties when the transaction is closed. This is a 341-acre net gain of public land acres. As stated in the BLM and the Blue Valley Ranch press releases, “the exchange expands access along about a mile of the Blue River near its confluence with the Colorado River, plus an additional 1.66 miles of hike-in access to the Blue River that is currently inaccessible except by floating.” The exchange consolidates public land and transfers small, isolated public land parcels that have little to no public access. Blue Valley Ranch has agreed to fund several improvements on public and private lands, including fishery habitat improvements and recreation facilities on the Blue River near the confluence with the Colorado River. The exchange also will benefit wildlife habitat on public land. CWF applauds and has supported this land exchange.