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The Pueblo Chieftain

Ranch project in Custer County protects way of life - Maytags develop homesites, keep ranch whole. -By Chris Woodka

March 23, 2005

Protecting water, food supply and a way of life starts in your own back yard.

Just ask Russ and Jeannie Maytag, who have turned their ranch south of Hillside in Custer County into a haven for those who want a ranching experience without the work usually associated with such an enterprise.

"The primary focus through this project is to preserve the ranching environment," Maytag said. "I am ecologically sensitive. It's a passion I have."

The project is the Maytag Mountain Ranch, which will create 27 homesites on the nearly 3,000-acre ranch, yet preserve it as a cattle operation and outdoor playground. The Maytags raise beef and are retaining two of the sites for themselves and their daughter Samantha, 17. But they will become co-owners in the ranch association as the property is developed.

To preserve the ranch's integrity, the Maytags have adopted restrictive covenants that prevent changing its character - forever. The covenants cannot be changed by owners in the future and act in the same way a conservation easement would. After an appraisal, the Maytags decided the tax advantages provided by an easement were not great enough to pursue it, but they still wanted to protect the land.

"The water will remain on the ranch forever," Maytag said. About 600 acres are irrigated and several streams flow out of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains through the ranch.

Maytag, 52, acquired a 2,000-acre ranch in 1978 and pieced together seven other parcels over the years to form a 2,953-acre spread.

"I was young and dumb," Maytag laughed.

Actually, Maytag was attracted to the ranch life from an early age. He grew up in Colorado Springs, but his father Robert had ranches in Divide to the west, Peyton to the east and Fountain to the south.

"I never wanted to do anything else," Maytag said.

Eight years ago, he bought an 80-acre farm on St. Charles Mesa, as a winter home for yearlings.

The Maytags raise grass-fat cattle, which take two years to grow to the same size as grain-fattened cattle. They have about 350 head. "We also don't use any chemicals, so it's a healthier diet for humans," Maytag said.

Four years ago, Maytag teamed with Jeff Temple, who developed a recreation conservation easement on the Storm Mountain Ranch near Steamboat Springs.

"It won the governor's Smart Growth award," Maytag said. "He's a friend of mine, so we formed a partnership. The ranch is a place for us to be able to produce healthy food and have room for 25 families to enjoy it."

Maytag takes pride that only about 100 acres will be disturbed by roads or home sites. Despite that, there will be a common area called the Cookhouse Lodge, 10 miles of trails, a horse barn, an arena and a couple of guest cabins. Best of all, two ranch hands will maintain it all - unless one of the owners has a hankerin' to do real ranch work.

"I don't know how many hundreds of hours we spent with land planners so that one neighbor can't see another's house," he said. Of the 25 sites for sale, seven have been sold already, mostly to Front Range businessmen who are able to afford the $1 million price tag.

While the revenue is good, Maytag's overriding concern is finding a way to keep water on the land.

"I think we need to find ways to keep water on ranches and farms. Water quality is the real issue, and irrigating in a pristine environment is a way to maintain good water quality," Maytag said.

Some of his neighbors think he should hold out and skip the development, he said. But he's set up the ranch so that sales of cattle will go back into operating the ranch, making it a sustainable enterprise. There is also a "permaculture" garden, which Maytag said is growing food - like fruit trees, bushes and vines - in perpetuity.

"What is agriculture? It's food production for human consumption," Maytag said. "We need to find niche markets where we can go as agricultural producers."

Production of healthier food on a local scale can help turn back the trend of importing food from foreign countries.

"One of the things about agriculture is that we've become disconnected from our customers. People want connection. They want to know who raised it, how it was raised and is it full of chemicals or organic," Maytag said. "I see it coming full circle. People want to get back to the land. They're worried about their food supply."