VIRGINIA DALE, Colo. — Many live or travel to Colorado to be surrounded by the mountains and the wilderness. While Mother Nature shows off in this elevation, some public lands can be challenging when private lands surround them and limit access to the area.
Infinite Outdoors is hoping to change this through a newly launched initiative called Access Granted, a free program aimed at bringing people back to public grounds to experience the thrill that comes with being outdoors.
"It's super important because, at least in my opinion, public land belongs to the public. So, if there's no way to get to it, it might as well be private land," said Sam Seeton, CEO of Infinite Outdoors. "Colorado's growing every year. Since COVID, more and more people want to go outside, and we're running out of areas. This provides a new way to access the land that you rightfully own, but in a legal manner, and still allows us to compensate those hard-working land owners."
The platform was founded by Colorado School of Mines grads and was first launched in 2020 to help connect private landowners to people who would pay to access their property to hunt, fish, or recreate on. Growing up on a ranch, Seeton knows firsthand the importance of managing a property and the need to support landowners who do not want to lease their hunting or fishing rights.
"It's a fantastic way to supplement them and ensure that Colorado continues to have these legacy ranches and not just more subdivisions every week popping up," Seeton said.
The new Access Granted program connects people for free, while also paying the landowners for this passage onto the land. This support comes from Infinite Outdoors’ Access+ paid membership program and partners like HUSH and Primos.
"It's 100% free for users; they just use our app to book it," Seeton explained. "Landowners see who’s going across their land. Now they can explore their public lands for free that otherwise wouldn't have been accessible."
- See how the app works in the video player below
Michael Maroney, biologist and chief marketing officer for Infinite Outdoors, told Denver7 he checks out properties and connects with landowners about how they can make their property better for fishing or hunting, along with conservation efforts that can be implemented.
Mountain View, one of the properties listed on the app, has private bookings and is a part of the Access Granted program. The Uthmann family runs a calf-cattle operation on the property in Virginia Dale for their business, Mountain View Meats.
Nicole and Chad Uthmann's children will be the sixth generation to ranch on the property, which was homesteaded in 1903. Nicole Uthmann found Infinite Outdoors online and was looking for a way to manage their hunters, along with making some income.
"Ranching is not the most profitable income, so it is nice to have a little bit of income to help out with the ranch," Uthmann said.
Besides the private booking option, the property is also part of the Access Granted program, which allows users to book the free option to access the public land through their property.
"We're just happy to be able to share it with the public, be able to manage that, and be respectful of our neighbors, said Uthmann. "Control the traffic in and out of here by not booking too many people at one time, so it's an opportunity for us to just share that land."
Since launching the Access Granted program nearly a dozen properties have signed up across Wyoming and Colorado, giving access to more than 45,000 acres of public land. Property listings can be found on their website, along with how you can list your land.
