Healthy trout populations depend on the right combination of water temperature, quality, flow, and habitat for spawning and survival. Since 1986, the Ranch has installed trout habitat improvements along eight miles of streams, creating deeper pools for holding water and gravel beds for spawning. Because fish move freely throughout the watershed, these improvements benefit fisheries both on the Ranches and in connected public and private waters.
In partnership with Wyoming Game and Fish, Trout Unlimited, the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust, and others, the Ranch also addressed a barrier to fish migration created by an existing irrigation diversion. A new structure provides fish passage, including a migration ladder and holding pools where fish can rest along their journey, while allowing the Ranch to maintain minimum stream flows during critical periods for trout survival and movement.
Together, these projects strengthen trout habitat across the watershed, supporting fish populations on the Ranches as well as in neighboring and connected waters.
Healthy springs support riparian areas, provide water for wildlife, and contribute to greater biodiversity across the landscape. They are also an important indicator of healthy soil moisture and the overall condition of the surrounding land.
Following recommendations from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and other conservation partners, the Ranches protect sensitive springs by fencing cattle away from these areas and providing alternative water sources through strategically placed tanks. This reduces pressure on riparian habitat, supports wildlife, protects water resources, and helps distribute cattle grazing more evenly across the landscape.
The Ranches provide a unique setting for studying how agricultural water use influences streams and the surrounding landscape. With agricultural water rights on several significant watersheds, the Ranches offer an opportunity to better understand how water moves through these systems.
In 2025–2026, the Ranches partnered with the University of Wyoming to closely monitor stream flows, irrigation withdrawals and return flows, water temperature, and other measures of water quality. This research helps inform decisions about water use and irrigation timing, with the goal of supporting agricultural needs while also benefiting wildlife, fisheries, and the broader ecosystem.
Near Walden, Colorado, a unique complex of sand dunes provides habitat for several endemic plant species, supports popular off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreation, and encompasses a stream that supplies water for agricultural use. In recent years, increased erosion associated with OHV use has affected the surrounding ecosystem and contributed sediment to the stream, interfering with downstream irrigation. In 2015, the Colorado Water Quality Control Division designated the creek as impaired by sediment.
Recognizing the need for a collaborative solution, the Gates Family Ranches helped organize a working group led by the Center for Collaborative Conservation at Colorado State University. The effort brought together land managers, recreation users, agricultural water users, conservation organizations, and other stakeholders to better understand the challenges and identify solutions that considered the needs of the entire community.
Over the past decade, this collaboration has led to changes in recreation management and access, expanded public education, and secured funding for restoration work. These ongoing efforts are helping reduce erosion, restore the stream, and improve downstream irrigation while balancing recreation, agriculture, and conservation across the landscape.