When Douglas County and Great Outdoors Colorado purchased a conservation easement on this 577-acre property in December, they acquired the final piece of a twelve-mile-long stretch of open space along I-25 south of Castle Rock. More than 30,000 acres are now preserved on both sides of the interstate, creating a permanent buffer between metro Denver and Colorado Springs. The land is owned by the Colorado Baptist General Convention, which will continue to use it as a camp, but development will be forever precluded. Public access to the property is available during monthly hikes guided by county staff, but the land will continue to be a home to elk, mountain lions, bears and one of two bighorn sheep herds know to live east of the interstate.