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Thank You Terry and Neil!
OLT is forever grateful to our founders, Neil and Terry Seitz for their on-going consultation to and support of OLT, especially during this time of transition in organizational leadership. Terry, in particular, has put in countless hours bringing OLT's bookkeeping current after the departure of several staff members, keeping things on an even keel financially, helping OLT"s Development Director with database knowledge regarding queries and data mining, answering phones and filling in Front Desk reservations and fielding questions from members, board, staff, vendors and partnerships regarding OLT's institutional history - an ever-present resource and need. OLT is fortunate to have Neil and Terry living on premises as a resource for organizational knowledge and historical perspective, especially regarding OLT's strategic planning process for the future - THANK YOU TERRY AND NEIL !
OLT’s New Interim Executive Director
Born in Appleton, WI at the age of 28, after traveling a good deal, I realized I could leave once and for all!
I lived and renovated buildings in New York City from 1984-1988, also exploring Theatre and Art. My wife and I have resided in the Baca Grande, south of Crestone, CO for the last 25 years in a house that we hand-built. During that time I was a Volunteer Fire Chief and Deputy Chief for 20 of those years and an ambulance driver for 7 years. I served on my Property Owner's Association Board of Directors for three years and I have participated in numerous activist causes, including helping to stop two trans-basin water diversions from the San Luis Valley, supported the creation of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Wildlife Preserve and resisted the Colorado Air National Guard's low altitude overflights. I remain a volunteer disc jockey at Alamosa's Public Radio Station KRZA, which I have done for most of my time here in the valley.
I have been coming to Valley View most of my time here and I have been OLT's Facilities Manager for the last 3 years before accepting my current position. My wife, the Director of the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council, helped Neil and Terry to create Orient Land Trust. We have a 15 year old son who has worked and played at Valley View over the years. I feel, as all of you do, that this unique place deserves to be preserved, as our mission states, "for current and future generations" and I will continue to bring my energies to that vision. We are blessed with a top -notch crew at OLT that has worked very hard to make it look like nothing changes here. I have enjoyed working with this crew and look forward to continue working with them. Please give them a "thank you" when you see them. They deserve it.
OLT now includes almost 2300 acres of varied terrains and ecosystems (including an increasingly working ranch) with different prescriptions needed for some of them. We have historically worked with Valley-based state and federal agencies, as well as with our conservation easement holders (The Nature Conservancy and the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife) toward our goal of implementing the best possible preservation practices for all these properties. These relationships will continue. We will also continue to refine our Strategic Plan to better achieve these goals and to explore other potential options.
At this point in time, OLT is in great need of raising money to pay for our state-mandated Waste Water Treatment Plant replacement. The new facility will be odorless and quiet. You can find more details of this project elsewhere in these pages but I am reaching out to all of you, asking that you consider giving your financial support to this very important improvement for Valley View's future. We thank you in advance for your historically generous support.
I want you all to know that I will endeavor to be as available as possible to you. Naturally, the administration of this organization does, and will, require a good portion of time; still I want to embrace your input whenever possible. Please approach me with your suggestions.
Let's Donate!
We Need 1500 Donors @ $100 Each!
Ever sit on the back porch at Oak House in warm summer months and catch our "drift"?!? It's not too swift on hot, sunny days, depending on which way the wind blows! OLT's wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), constructed in 1983, has gotten heavy use over the last 30 years by our thousands of annual visitors and is in dire need of retirement. We are now mandated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment to invest in wastewater system upgrades that will result in OLT having a quiet, odorless, and nearly invisible underground wastewater facility!
While we are still waiting for final design and numbers for our new wastewater treatment system, we have completed the necessary underground water, perc and strata tests to obtain the in-ground data that will inform the engineering design of our new wastewater treatment facilities. At minimum, we believe we will need two holding tanks at an approximate cost of about $35,000 each and at least 500 infiltrators at $20 each, plus connecting plumbing, labor and engineering design fees. Bio Habitats of Denver is the designer of our new system which we expect will be finished by next summer.
We are hoping to be able to complete this state-mandated project for under the estimated $150,000. If approximately 1500 Members each donated $100 for the WWTP upgrades, we'd cover the cost in full rather than need to go into debt with a loan. We hope you will want to join our "potty" to help maintain Valley View / OLT's infrastructure and donate generously to our WWTP upgrades, or at minimum SPONSOR AN INFILTRATOR (sounds kinda covert, eh?!) at $20. An infiltrator is a scientifically designed sub-surface structure that, when installed in series, optimizes the dispersal of the effluent. Help us fund this not-very-glamorous, but important project. OLT's WWTP facility provides important support for your OLT experience of serene landscapes and soothing waters, allowing you to "recreate" in nature without worry about how to manage life's basic necessities. So, please consider donating generously this year to our Annual Appeal to help with our expensive and much-needed wastewater treatment facelift! A donation form for the Annual Appeal is located on the back page of this Annual Report. We will also be holding OLT member "pottys" (parties) on the Front Range and other locations in 2014, with further opportunities to join our "Potty" in the new year!
- Pam Nelson, Director of Development
[revised 5/12/2014]
Programs
Immersive Education Programs and Services
Valley View Hot Springs
Everson Ranch
Historic Orient Mine
Bats
Hydroelectric Power
Astronomy
Environmental Preservation
Permaculture
Sustainable Agriculture
Geology
Geothermal Heating
History
Massage Services
Public Outreach
Naturist Open Space
Trails
Visitor Services
Volunteer Opportunities
Wildfire Control
Change of Management
August 28th, 2013
We have made changes in our organization today that will build a foundation for the future while honoring the past. This will be a future that emphasizes the profound vision of our founders, Neil & Terry, and is rooted in their original intention and purpose. We will be working with them to continue to develop the organization they established to preserve and protect OLT lands and the community that has embraced it. Effective immediately, there has been a change to the management and Board of Directors at Orient Land Trust. To see the current makeup of both, please visit our Board of Directors page.
Exploring various approaches to the operation of VVHS over the last few years has returned us to the sound and successful fundamentals established by our founders. OLT is fortunate to have a variety of resources – the mine, bats, ranch, open lands, etc. With the benefit of hindsight we will re-establish as our core the protection and care of VVHS knowing that our other entities complement and enhance VVHS.
VVHS is a sacred place to many, thriving through diversity and a rare tolerance of a variety of individual choices and expressions. Going forward, we strive to continue to make it a place where personal freedoms allow all of us to visit VVHS in a way that contributes to the magic and enhances our individual journeys through life with peace and abiding friendship.
The recently implemented rules and rates will be part of the board’s re-examination in the coming months. We will be evaluating our strategy for sound fiscal management and will announce changes as we continue to scrutinize our operations. Our immediate priority will be a focus on the VVHS Wastewater Treatment Facility, which is a state-mandated improvement that has to be built in the coming year.
For VVHS guests, we rely on a time-honored and universal “rule” to facilitate harmony in the coming months: Be responsible for yourself and your minors, and conduct yourself such that everyone’s experience is valued. We thank you for your understanding during this important transitional time and, as always, welcome comments and input. We always welcome applicants for the Board of Directors and hope you'll join us on October 19th [not 20th] for our Fall Quarter Board meeting.
Board of Directors
Email the board chairperson with any questions and comments for the board. Individual board members can be contacted directly with the links below.
See Board of Directors Position Description below and Board Meetings for more information.
All officers are elected at the annual meeting in July.
If you are interested in serving on the Board, please submit a letter of interest and resume to the Board Governance Committee, Orient Land Trust, PO Box 65, Villa Grove, CO 81155 or email to the Governance Committee chairpersons. Please highlight your experience with nonprofits (including volunteer boards), fundraising, finance, work on committees, volunteerism, familiarity with OLT, your interests and expertise that you can bring to the board, and the reasons you want to be its newest member. Candidates for the Board of Directors will be asked to attend one meeting prior to being interviewed by the Board Development Committee. Committee work is also strongly encouraged prior to serving on the board.
Not Pictured: Board Member Scott Hamilton. Pictured: Former Board Member Sarah Halliday Resigned 08/12/23. Mike Allen who resigned from the Board in January 2024 After This Picture Was Taken in July.
Officers |
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Douglas Bishop - Executive Director (email) Doug Bishop is a native of Colorado, born in La Junta in 1950. He moved to the San Luis Valley, Saguache County and was caretaker for property at Major Creek, three miles south of Valley View Hot Springs, from 1973 to 1980. His children, Kestrel and Alan, were born there. He first visited Valley View Hot Springs in March of 1973. In 1980, he moved to ten acres, originally part of the homestead that became Valley View Hot Springs, and built a house. For the past four years he's been building a new house on the property. He conducted recreational horseback rides in the area around the hot springs from 1984 to 2002. In 1984, he started working as a part-time ski instructor at Monarch Ski Area. He attained PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America) Level II certification in 1991, PSIA Children's Accreditation in 1992, and PSIA Level III certification in 1993. He was selected Colorado Ski Country USA's Ski Instructor of the Year for the 1992-93 ski season. His seasonal full-time employment for Monarch began in 1988, and in 2001, he completed his eighth and final season as manager of the Monarch Children's Center. In 2003 Doug received a BA degree in Elementary Education from Adams State College. He taught second grade at Jewell Elementary in Aurora for the 2003-04 school year. For the 2004-05 school year, he worked as a teacher's aide for the Title I program in Saguache, Colorado at Mountain Valley Schools. For the 2005-06 school year, he worked as the classroom teacher for a combined classroom of third and fourth graders in Saguache at Mountain Valley Elementary. Doug has worked off and on for Valley View Hot Springs since 1975. Some of the Valley View projects he has assisted with include: Oak House remodel and upstairs dormitory addition, cabin repair and remodeling projects, Sunset Rooms construction, bath house construction, swimming pool reconstruction, stone retaining wall around swimming pool, soaking pools reconstruction, hydroelectric plant installation and upgrade, pipelines, housing, cleaning, maintenance, and registration/office duties. Doug is interested in maintaining the open space characteristic of the area, enjoying and promoting clothing optional policies, and preserving the existing natural and historical resources of the neighborhood that has been his home since 1973.
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Crystal England - Deputy Director/ED Select (email) Crystal was born and raised in a small town in Iowa. On a family vacation to Colorado, when Crystal was 11, she set her sights on returning some day to live among the mountains, surrounded by trees. In the summer of 2015, she and her boys, Noah and Gabe, visited Crestone for the first time. They planned to stay a few days, which turned into a week. They returned soon for another visit. Then the decision was made, and the three of them became Crestone residents. Crystal’s dream of mountain living was achieved! Crystal began working at the front desk in May of 2016 and immediately fell in love with the magic that is Valley View Hot Springs. 2017 introduced her to the Everson Ranch where she continues to create memories working in the garden, the kitchen, and hosting events. Dedication to protecting this water, land, community, and continuing to the legacy of the Orient Land Trust shapes her future. Crystal loves to feed people and, when not at work, can usually be found in the kitchen, tending to her giant collection of house plants, or spending time with her children. She is passionate about organic food, clean water, enjoys studying history, and spreading joy. |
Board of Directors |
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Roger Courtemanche - Board Chairperson (Term expires 2025) (email)
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Jon Florey - Vice Chairperson (Term expires 2024) (email) Jon was born in South Dakota. He moved away from that state in the early 1990’s to begin his professional career in sales and marketing and lived in Chicago, Dallas, Tampa, and few other places during this time. After the terror attacks of 9-11-2001 he joined the United States Air Force (USAF). During his 4-year tenure in the USAF he was based at Croughton Royal Air Force Base in the United Kingdom, England. He served 3 years overseas and, for his last year, he served at Hanscom, Air Force Base near Boston, MA. He left the USAF as a Captain and moved to Steamboat, CO eventually ending up living in the burbs of Denver. Jon has a Master’s degree in Information Systems and started a towing company in Denver in 2011. He met his husband, Aaron, in 2007 and whom introduced him to Valley View Hot springs in 2009 and they have been members ever since. Aaron and Jon now live in Golden, CO where they own a small business. They enjoy snowboarding in the beautiful Rocky Mountains that surround them and, of course, visiting Valley View as much as possible. When asked, “What do you love about Valley View and why are you on the Board of Directors?”, Jon says, “Let’s just say this, if more people were like the people that are members of Valley View Hot Springs and Orient Land Trust, out in the real world, we could fix everything…outside of the magic of the land and water…the people are what make this place special. I’m honored and blessed to be able to be a small part of it.”
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Patrick Comiskey - Treasurer (Term expires 2025) (email) Bio coming soon.
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Scott Hamilton - Secretary (Term expires 2024) (email) Scott Hamilton's first experience with Valley View Hot Springs was in the early 80's, before the first bathhouse was built, when his girlfriend (now wife) Rachel suggested a visit to this cool place in the northern San Luis Valley "where you don't wear any clothes – anywhere". Always a naturist at heart, he was intrigued and then charmed by the magic of Valley View. He visited sporadically during the 80's, but after the first boy was born in the early 90's, visits accelerated. Soon two more boys were added to the roster (identical twins) and all three learned to swim in the Valley View swimming pool. Camping and swimming and diving for baubles in the party pool – ahem – "soaking pond" -- what's not to like? Scott and Rachel and kids loved the family-friendly atmosphere, rustic setting and clothing-optional environment found nowhere else.
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Susan Hicks - (Term expires 2025) (email)
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Bill Moench - (Term expires 2026) (email) Bill grew up in Iowa with a family that vacationed in Colorado and the west nearly every year.After attending music school at UNC in Greeley, he became a public school band director for six years. He then went to law school in St. Louis, and became a trial lawyer over the next thirty-five years, specializing in employment discrimination and other civil rights cases on behalf of employees. He first discovered the peace and freedom of Valley View on a solo vacation from St. Louis during a rough patch in his personal life, and was hooked. After moving to Denver to work for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2009, he was able to visit Valley View more often. He retired from trial work in 2015, and started volunteering as a camp host. He has continued hosting every year, and became a board member in 2022 in hopes of contributing to the legacy and positive direction of the Orient Land trust.
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Terry Seitz - (Term expires 2024) (email) Terry, cofounder of Orient Land Trust, has resided in the San Luis Valley since 1976. Terry was a long time employee of OLT who retired in 2012.Before joining the staff of OLT she, along with her husband Neil, owned and operated Valley View Hot Springs. She served for many years on the Supervisory Committee of the Saguache County Credit Union, and received the Colorado Credit Union League's Volunteer of the Year Award in 1997. She has also been active in the Villa Grove Area Merchants Association since its founding in 1987. Terry was appointed to the OLT Board in January 2024 for the remainder of the term of retired board member Sarah Halliday.
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Aleia Schaum - (Term expires 2026) (email) Aleia retired from a 30 -year career in public education. As an educator she specialized in environmental education and creating community within the classroom. She made the mountains of Colorado her home during college. Valley View became her home away from home since 1983. Aleia has supported and celebrated the transformation from just a hot springs to a nonprofit organization that promotes conservation, preservation, research and education. Her commitment to being a steward of Earth motivated her to join the OLT board. She is dedicated to supporting the management to makes decisions balancing economic and environmental issues. She is delighted to give back by volunteering in the office, serving on committees, and being on the board. Aleia served previous terms on the OLT Board and her most recent appointment to the board is to serve the remaining term of retiring board member Mark Allen.
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Vacancy - (Term expires 2026) There is an opening on the board due to a board member resigning. |
Rain: Keeping it in Perspective
Bequests
While you are considering your income tax savings, this may also be a good time to consider long-term tax savings for your heirs by including OLT in your will. The federal estate tax’s top rate is 40% for 2013 and future years as enacted by Congress and President Obama in the American Taxpayer Relief Act. That’s a higher tax bite than the federal income tax rate! However, one needs to remember that one’s heirs WILL NOT RECEIVE THE STEP UP IN COST BASIS ON ANY INVESTMENTS from your estate, thus there will be no escaping the capital gains tax if they liquidate an asset. The only way to avoid the capital gains tax is to give the appreciated asset to a charity who can then sell it. The donor receives credit for the full market value of the donation. It definitely pays to do some advance planning with your attorney and other professional advisors, especially since estate plans can be made flexible enough to change as your life and the laws change.
We hope you will consider a charitable bequest in your will to benefit OLT while you save on estate taxes.
Share Your Bequest with Orient Land Trust
Thank you for thinking of OLT in your estate planning. There are multiple ways to donate from your estate and this article is a good overview, https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/info-2023/how-to-donate-to-charities-in-your-will.html
Your attorney and accountant will be able to give you the best advice and implement your wishes in your estate planning documents.
To properly identify OLT in those documents use our legal name and EIN as follows.
Legal Name: Orient Land Trust
EIN: 84-1582988
Street Address: 64393 County Road GG, Moffat, CO 81143
Please let us know if you have any other questions.
Gifts of Retained Life Estate
How it works
- You transfer your residence, farm, or vacation home to OLT subject to a life estate.
- You continue to live in the property for life or a specified term of years, while continuing to be responsible for all taxes and upkeep.
- The property passes to OLT when your life estate ends.
Benefits
- You receive gift credit and an immediate income tax deduction for a portion of the appraised value of your property.
- You can terminate your life estate at any time and take an additional income tax deduction.
- You have the satisfaction of making a significant gift now that benefits OLT later.
Life Income Gifts
If you are considering a major gift, your gift of cash or stock in the form of a “Life Income Gift” can significantly increase your income!
A life income gift allows you to transfer assets, and yet continue to receive income from the cash, stock, or other property contributed. A life income gift can allow you to:
1) Increase your income for life
2) Receive a generous charitable contribution
3) If you contribute stock, avoid any capital gains on the appreciation
A life income gift is often made through a trust arrangement called a “unitrust” or an “annuity trust”. With a unitrust, you and/ or your spouse (or another beneficiary) receives annually a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the assets in the trust. The income will vary year-to year, based upon how the trust’s investments perform. With an annuity trust, you and/ or your spouse (or another beneficiary) receives a fixed amount from the trust each year. This amount is agreed upon when you create the trust; it stays constant, no matter what happens with the stock market or interest rates.
If you have already considered OLT in your will, please note that a life income gift can often be preferable. Such a gift allows you to accomplish your philanthropic goals during your lifetime – and in a tax-advantaged way.