Colorado Springs Business Journal
Home on the range not just for cowpokes - By Becky Hurley - Staff Reporter
June 17, 2005
Raising cattle has become a difficult, often impossible, way to make a living. Ranch owners are often forced to find a second job to support their families or to sell the ranch to developers.
Maytag and Saunders have found ways to make ranch ownership work, but their entrepreneurial approaches vary.
Key to the success of today's eco-ranch, they agree, are on-site recreational amenities, state or federal conservation land trusts, environmentally compatible development and savvy marketing.
The Maytag Mountain Ranch covers nearly 3,000 acres west of Canon City. Its greatest value lies in the land. Maytag says running a cattle operation sis generally profitable but can be "all-consuming and sometimes marginal."
The ranch produces beef and organic fruits and vegetables, and Maytag is an active member of the Slow Food growers organization. About 600 acres are irrigated, and proceeds from the sale of grass-fed cattle are poured back into the ranch, making it a sustainable business.
Operating costs run between $200,000 and $250,000 annually. That overhead, teamed with a desire to preserve the property's natural beauty and water, motivated the family to seek revenue alternatives.
Maytag's partner Jeff Temple, a Governor's Smart Growth Award-winning land marketing and environmental expert responsible for developing Storm Mountain Ranch near Steamboat Springs, was brought on to put the project together.
They decided to develop 27 private high-end homesteads. Of the 25 sites for sale (two remain with the Maytag family), seven of the $895,000 to $1.5 million parcels have already sold.
Improvements added include eight miles of road, new employee and visitor accommodations, and fees for wildlife and environmental consultations. The partners direct their marketing efforts at successful Front Ranch business executives.
"It's been work it," Maytag said. "This way we get to share our way of life with people who will enjoy the ranch and who will honor our landowner covenants, designed to prevent changes. They act much like a conservation easement."
An on-site ranch manager and his staff run the operation, though visitors and owners are invited to punch cows or mend fences. Other recreation includes trout fishing, hiking, biking and puttering in the garden, Maytag said.
At least one Colorado Springs CEO has joined seven other ranch owners in carving out his own 100-acre piece of paradise. Jim Johnson of G.E. Johnson Construction Co. view the property as ideal for family getaways, horse boarding and outdoor recreation.
On-site facilities include two cabins for owner use on weekends or during home construction. Other amenities include a lodge, a fully-outfitted barn with tack, a riding arena and a round pen.
Scott Saunders and his family have taken a different approach to generating income on their Arrowhead Ranch, which is across South Park, just 11 miles south of Fairplay. The property includes 4,000 acres adjacent to the Pike National Forest and the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness Area and averages 9,100 feet in elevation.
In 1989, former manager of the Colorado Springs El Paso Club, George Cahill, approached the family about starting a fishing club at Arrowhead Ranch.
Cahill met Saunders' grandfather who had bought Arrowhead Ranch in 1959 to raise Charolais cattle. "The fishing was always terrific," Saunders said.
The early club was successful, due in part to more than seven miles of streams meandering across 2.5 acres of property. Located near the headwaters of the South Platte River, the land is blessed with four lakes, ranging in size from four to 14 surface acres. Today membership is capped at 50 per year. The cost is $5,000 for an annual access permit.
"Fly fishing generates good revenue, but it's not enough to cover costs," Saunders said, noting the ranch's staggering annual expenses.
"We have barns, sheds, corrals and seven houses on the property," he said. "And then we grow 3,000 tons of hay a year, requiring crews to harvest and irrigation. Since the early 1990s, Saunders has added three cabins, a clubhouse and a rental cabin.
Saunders continues to market to the Front Range fly fishing community and is committed to sustained wildlife and land conservation.
The Arrowhead Ranch lies in a desirable natural corridor and has attracted interest from The Nature Conservancy as well as from Great Outdoors Colorado and the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts.
As a result, Saunders has been able to place a quarter of his ranch under state and federal conservation easements and can profit from selling the resulting Colorado tax credits to affluent clients in need of IRS tax breaks.
"So far the land we've placed under conservation easements represent about 1,000 acres, mostly along the river bottom. We protect our ranch by accepting 40-cents on the dollar from the state, but give up future development rights on that property."
The remaining 3,000 acres can be used to raise horses, for trail rides, outdoor recreation and possibly, very low-density development.
"Selling of parcels is really not my goal," he said. "I wouldn't mind a handful of home sites as long as they don't cut off the wildlife corridors."
