Red Mountain Open Space Grazing Lease

Location:	Colorado
Posted:	Aug 7, 2026
Due:	Sep 17, 2026
Agency:	Larimer County
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	X - Lease or Rental of Facilities Z - Maintenance, Repair or Alteration of Real Property
Solicitation No:	Q26-07
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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REQUEST FOR QUOTATION

RFQ #Q26-07

Red Mountain Open Space (RMOS) - Grazing Lease

RFQ SUMMARY:

To solicit quotes from proposed grazing operators to enter into an agreement with a responsible

and qualified lessee for livestock grazing at the Red Mountain Open Space (RMOS).

OPTIONAL SITE VISIT: August 14, 2026, 10:00 a.m. (MT)

It is recommended, but not required, for those interested in submitting a quote to attend this on-site meeting

at the date and time above. The RMOS trailhead is at 799 Red Canyon Rd, Wellington, CO 80549. Meet

to sign in and gather into county vehicles for viewing the grazing areas, caravan will depart from the parking

lot at 10:15 a.m. and continue behind the closed gates. This will be the only opportunity to view the site with

County personnel. However, the park is open to the public during regular hours for viewing.

QUESTION DEADLINE: August 27, 2026, 10:00 a.m. (MT)

All questions regarding this solicitation must be emailed to the Purchasing Contact identified below. If you do

not receive a confirmation email of receipt, please call their phone number listed to verify your questions have

been received. No inquiry will be accepted after the date and time referenced above. All responses to

questions received will be answered via Addendum only, these are considered official communications

affecting this RFQ. Any Addenda issued will be posted on the County’s BidNet site at the link below.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTALS: September 17, 2026, 10:00 a.m. (MT)

All quotations must be emailed to the Contact Person identified below by the due date and time shown here

or by subsequent change addenda. If you do not receive a confirmation email of receipt, please call the

Contact Person to verify receipt of your quotation. Responsibility for timely submittal of your quotation prior

to the deadline lies solely with the entity/person submitting. Quotes may be submitted early but will not be

processed or evaluated until after the deadline. Quotes received after the closing date and time specified

above will NOT be considered.

BIDNET PORTAL / RFQ OFFICIAL WEBSITE:

To view official RFQ documents and any addenda , use the following link:

https://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado/larimer-county/

CONTACT PERSON:

Purchasing Agent Sarah Brightman, sbrightman@larimer.org, 970-498-5873

NOTE: Unauthorized contact with a County employee during this competitive process, other than the

Contact Person listed above or Purchasing Manager, regarding this RFQ may result in disqualification of

your Quote.

1. INTENT

The Larimer County Purchasing Department is requesting quotations for livestock grazing at the RMOS in

Larimer County, Colorado. The County intends to enter into an agreement with a lessee beginning January 1,

2027, with a selection for award of this lease on or about October 15, 2026.

2. QUALIFICATIONS

The lease applicant must own property in Larimer County, as directed by the Larimer County Board of County

Commissioners on June 20, 2011.

3. OVERVIEW

Overall Vision

Larimer County Natural Resource Department (LCDNR) open spaces are primarily managed for native

habitats and intact ecological systems. Given these lands evolved with grazing, it is one tool used to help

manage native grassland communities. Grazing can help achieve ecological benefits by enhancing native

habitat through invasive weed management, promoting plant growth and diversity, and benefiting species that

depend on specific habitat requirements (such as grassland birds). Thus, where appropriate, prescriptive

grazing plans focused on creating habitat mosaics, mimicking natural processes, and creating structural

heterogeneity and diversity within plant communities, can be used by Larimer County to meet vegetation

management objectives on conserved lands. Grazing activities will be guided by clear conservation outcomes

and performed via third party producers via leases.

Ecological Resource Management

The goal of grazing management on lands owned and managed by LCDNR is to achieve conservation outcomes

concerning soil health, water quality and quantity and natural habitat enhancements. Specifically, on RMOS, the

Department's goals are to provide for preservation, restoration, and maintenance of native plant communities,

and to protect rare plant and wildlife species. A five (5) year grazing lease will be established and will be governed

by provisions of the grazing lease agreement and an annual grazing plan between the lessee and the County.

Sustaining an overall range condition of “good” or “better” (as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Natural Resources Conservation Service) through enhancement of ecological conditions will be the basis for the

annual grazing plan. Enhancement of native grasses and ecological conditions and sustaining an overall range

condition of good condition (or better), as defined and in consultation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), as the basis for the annual grazing plan. The County is

responsible for noxious weed control.

RED MOUNTAIN OPEN SPACE INFORMATION

Background

The 16,819-acre RMOS was created through two Larimer County purchases in 2004, 2007 and 2018, and is

managed by LCDNR for its natural, visual, geological, agricultural and nature-based public access values.

Climate

RMOS has a highly variable, semi-arid climate with an average annual precipitation of 14.4 inches. The highest

amount of precipitation occurs in May. The average maximum daily temperature (F) is approximately 70

degrees or above from May through September, with the daily average maximum reaching approximately 85

degrees in July and August. High temperatures may exceed 100 degrees, but nights are cooler with an

average low during the summer of approximately 54 degrees. Winters are generally cold but are characterized

by temperature swings. January is the coldest month with an average daily maximum of 41.5 degrees and

minimum of 13.6 degrees.

Topography/Geology/Soils

RMOS is an area of diverse topography where the plains and the foothills meet, creating a landscape of

valleys, isolated buttes and red and brown hogbacks. The elevation change on the property ranges from about

5,900 feet in the southeast corner to a highest elevation point of 7,458 feet in the northwest corner. Big Hole,

Table Mountain, Boxelder Creek Canyon, Haygood Canyon and the Cheyenne Rim are notable land features.

The three dominant soil types are shallow, well drained, gravelly sandy loams formed in weathered

granite and rock outcrops, found on mountainsides; shallow to deep, well drained mainly loams, fine

sandy loams and clay loams that formed in materials weathered from sandstone, on uplands and fans;

and shallow to deep, strongly sloping to steep, well drained mainly loams, clay loams and stony sandy

loams that formed in material weathered from sandstone and rock outcrops, on uplands.

Hydrology

Boxelder Creek and Sand Creek flow through RMOS from private lands to the west. Intense flooding

episodes can occur on these creeks. Boxelder Creek flows perennially out of Boxelder Canyon and

through a flood detention dam and supports large cottonwoods and willows. Boxelder Creek can be

used for irrigation on the property. Approximately 8 miles of Sand Creek flows through the property and

bisects a portion of Big Hole after flowing out of Haygood Canyon. Downstream of Haygood Canyon,

Sand Creek is a perennial stream that flows through a flood detention dam and into Bent Rock Canyon.

Below Bent Rock Canyon the stream is intermittent during drought periods. Sand and Boxelder creeks

meet at the south end of Table Mountain. Portions of Boxelder Creek and Sand Creek are fenced from

general grazing but occasionally may be opened up for flash grazing.

There are several small intermittent ponds in the Rawhide Pasture that are livestock watering sources

during spring wet periods.

Vegetation

RMOS is an area where two ecosystems come together – the Central Shortgrass Prairie to the east

and the foothills to the west. It contains one of the most extensive high-quality foothills shrubland-

grassland complexes known along the Front Range. Vegetation types present on RMOS include

riparian systems, ponderosa pine woodlands, mountain mahogany shrublands, foothills grasslands,

shortgrass prairie and saltbush shrublands. Grass, shrub and forbs species include needle-and-

thread, western wheatgrass, blue grama, buffalograss, green needlegrass, big bluestem, pussytoes,

prickly poppy, bee plant, milk vetch, blazing star, buckwheat, timothy, great basin wildrye, Kentucky

bluegrass, fringed sage, scurfpea, coneflower, mountain mahogany, skunkbush, currant, rabbitbrush,

Indian ricegrass, broom snakeweed, fringed sage, yucca, side-oats grama, snowberry, lupine, sticky

geranium, water sedge, field horsetail, poison ivy, field mint, winterfat, four-wing saltbush, little

sunflower, mountain bladderpod, hairy clematis, spreading buckwheat, Howard’s evening primrose,

musk phlox, tufted milkvetch, Townsend daisy, whiskbroom parsley and prince’s plume.

Some exotic plants have become established on portions of RMOS, including smooth and downy

bromes, crested wheatgrass, field bindweed, common mullein, Canada thistle, musk thistle, common

burdock, leafy spurge, Dalmatian toadflax, Russian knapweed, Scotch thistle, buffalobur, and

houndstongue. DNR has an active program to monitor, control or eradicate these species. Controlling

the existing weed patches and preventing spread and introduction of new weed species will be key for

management considerations.

Some riparian areas along Sand Creek and Boxelder Creek are fenced off from general grazing but are

occasionally opened up for flash grazing.

Wildlife

RMOS supports a variety of wildlife including mountain lion, coyote, mule deer, white-tail deer,

pronghorn, bighorn sheep, black bear, elk, rabbits, skunks, rattlesnakes, toads, lizards, etc. High rock

outcrops are nest sites and winter foraging locations for hunting and perching raptors including prairie

falcons, ferruginous hawks, red-tailed hawks, peregrine falcon, Cooper’s hawk, turkey vulture, barn owl,

great-horned owls, bald eagles and golden eagles. There are three known golden eagle nesting sites

in Haygood Canyon, along Boxelder Creek and on the eastern hogback.

Four bull elk, three cow elk and eight deer Special Access Hunting Permits will be issued for specific

rifle seasons by drawing from applications per year.

GRAZING FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Pastures

The property consists of nine main pastures currently used for grazing (see map, Exhibit B of the attached

Grazing Lease Agreement):

• Big Hole Pasture of approximately 3800 grazeable acres with two developed springs each with a

trough, and approximately 1.5 miles of perennial and intermittent streams.

• Boxelder Pasture of approximately 460 grazeable acres with one water gap on the Boxelder Creek.

• Bench Pasture of approximately 530 grazeable acres with two water gaps on Boxelder Creek.

• Hill Pasture of approximately 700 grazeable acres with approximately 1.5 miles of perennial and

intermittent stream and within this pasture are the Sand Creek Place facilities with corrals, sheds,

holding pens, a well and water troughs.

• Sand Creek Pasture of approximately 260 grazeable acres with access to water troughs at the Sand

Creek Facilities and one solar well.

• Table Mountain Pasture of approximately 330 grazeable acres with an intermittent stream, one

developed spring with two tanks and one well with solar pump.

• Red Canyon Pastures of approximately 690 grazeable acres with approximately 0.6 miles of perennial

and intermittent stream and two wells (windmill and solar).

• Valley Pasture of approximately 200 grazeable acres with one solar well.

• Rawhide Pasture of approximately 2010 grazeable acres with one developed spring with trough, one

well with solar pump, several wet season ponds, and one windmill.

The range overall is in good to very good condition. Poor conditions may exist in areas near livestock watering,

where livestock congregate, and where poorer soils along the ridges produce weaker stands of grass more

susceptible to over utilization. Successive years of drought have required a reduction in grazing. DNR began

grazing management of the property in 2006. The lease agreement includes an annual grazing plan. The

current grazing plan allows up to 1120 AUMs over a 8-month period with the provision that AUMs could be

increased or decreased based on weather, water availability and range conditions. AUMs will be calculated

using the most current NRCS-recommended Animal-Units Equivalent Guide (Exhibit C).

Facilities and Infrastructure

There are approximately 30 miles of property boundary and interior fences, mostly 4-strand barbed wire in fair

to good condition.

Water resources were discussed in the previous section.

The livestock facilities at the Sand Creek Place on Hawk Canyon Road just west of County Road 21 (CR 21)

are available for use by the lessee only in direct relationship to the grazing of RMOS. They include an

equipment shed, a large loafing shed with tack room, a six pen corral with concrete feed bunks, three water

troughs fed by a well/cistern/pipeline system, a stack yard, loading chute, three large holding pens and one

approximately 10-acre paddock. There is electricity throughout.

An all season, gravel road runs through the south central portion of RMOS to a public trailhead parking area,

which is closed to the general public December, January and February. Hawk Canyon Road, another all

season road is kept open west from CR 21 to the Sand Creek Place, and the Sand Creek, Hill, Meadow and

Bench Pastures, and other private properties. There are roads or tracks in varying condition to all the

pastures. Vehicle access is restricted or requires authorization on some of the roads, and authorization is

needed for off road vehicular travel as stated in the lease agreement.

Encumbrances and Easements

There is an existing tower lease on the property, southeast of Table Mountain on the ridge above CR 21.

A perpetual access easement allows The Nature Conservancy access through RMOS to monitor and conduct

biological assessments on the City of Cheyenne lands for which they hold a conservation easement.

There are electric and phone utility easements across the southern portion of the property. There are also

easements for the two flood control dams. There is a gas pipeline easement across the southwest portion of the

property.

Three adjacent property owners have access easements across the property.

Public Access Use

Portions of RMOS are open to the public from March through November for hiking, biking and equestrian use.

There are ten miles of trails with a trailhead parking area north of CR 21. The trailhead access road and trails

are in the Valley, Table Mountain, Red Canyon, Boxelder and Big Hole pastures. Recreational (public) users are

not allowed off trail, except to hunt.

Cultural Resources

There are numerous archaeological sites on the property dating from the historic period to more than 10,000

years ago. Preserving and protecting the sites and artifacts is an important obligation of DNR and the lessee.

Adjacent Land Use

Surrounding lands are a combination of publicly-owned and private lands, mainly consisting of large ranches

and low-density rural residential subdivisions. The 18,778-acre Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, owned and

managed by the City of Fort Collins, borders on the east side. Approximately 1,800 acres north of RMOS in

Wyoming is owned by the City of Cheyenne, with a conservation easement held by The Nature Conservancy,

anticipated to have future public access from the north. A conservation easement currently exists on all of

RMOS, held by the City of Fort Collins, specifying both permitted and prohibited uses.

Location and Access

RMOS is 25 miles northwest of Fort Collins off CR 21. Official address of trailhead: 799 Red Canyon Rd,

Wellington, CO 80549.

Fee

The base rate proposed per AUM shall be equal to or greater than the Northern Colorado average based on

the Colorado State University Land Rental and Custom Rates survey.

• The current published median price for Beef Cattle Grazing for Native Range per Survey is $26.00 per

AUM.

• This regional rate is the minimum fee that will be considered for proposed grazing of your animals on

County property.

• This rate will increase annually (as directed by the Lease Agreement) depending on survey results but

not drop below the 2025 Survey rate.

• Website for the 2025 Survey data: https://abm.extension.colostate.edu/custom-rates-survey/

• Payments for grazing the property will be per Section 3 of Attachment A – Grazing Lease Agreement.

4. SCOPE OF WORK

4.1 SPECIFIC LCDNR ECOLOGICAL/HABITAT OBJECTIVES

The Lessee, at a minimum, will provide, perform, and/or furnish the following:

1. Minimize soil disturbance on native grassland/soils by protecting existing intact plant communities and

restoring diverse native plant communities.

2. Minimize soil disturbance with practices that promote minimum turning of the soil.

3. Rotate grazing to avoid soil compaction and increase soil organic matter and favor species diversity and

community resilience to invasion of exotic species.

This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

Due Date	Number	Title	Documents	Contact
2026-09-17	Q26-07	Red Mountain Open Space Grazing Lease Please see BidNet link for all documents and attachments BIDNET PORTAL / RFQ OFFICIAL WEBSITE: To view official RFQ documents and any addenda , use the following link: https://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado/larimer-county/	Bid Doc	Sarah Brightman, Purchasing Agent sbrightman@larimer.org 970-498-5873

Red Mountain Open Space Grazing Lease

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