Located 15 miles northwest of Gypsum, Sweetwater Lake is a wealth of natural beauty, diverse wildlife habitat and archeological history. In 2018, The Conservation Fund (TCF) purchased the 488-acre parcel from an entrepreneur who hoped to bottle and sell “Vaspen” spring water from the location. TCF’s conservation strategy was to take it off the market, then convince the US Forest Service to buy and incorporate it into the surrounding White River National Forest.

In 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) assigned $900M annually to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a federal program funded by royalties paid by energy companies engaged in offshore oil and gas drilling. In turn, the LWCF pays for the acquisition and establishment of national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and recreation areas.

In anticipation of this new funding source that could be used to sell Sweetwater Lake to the USFS (who were entitled to a relatively small portion of LWCF funds), a collaboration was born. As a pilot project for EVW, Todd worked with TCF and the Eagle Valley Land Trust to create a collection of images that would show the true value of Sweetwater to those making the funding decisions in Washington DC, and to leverage additional regional fundraising via a “Save the Lake” campaign.

In the end, Todd’s images helped convince officials at the Department of the Interior that Sweetwater Lake should be a top-ten priority for federal land acquisitions. Subsequently, the USFS assigned $8.5M to purchase Sweetwater Lake from TCF, the highest amount paid of all 36 parcels that were also purchased that year. The Save the Lake campaign provided an additional $1M to cover a $800K shortfall and to set up a fund for maintenance and upkeep.

Conveying Sweetwater Lake’s intrinsic value through compelling imagery proved essential to the success of the collaborative effort.