Stewards of The Land!

Owning a ranch is one of the most fulfilling experiences a person can enjoy. It seems my business has become taking an individual from the board room back to his childhood love of playing in dirt, experiencing nature with awestruck eyes, finding a love for a cold mountain stream and a passion for wildlife that is just as satisfying with a camera and binoculars as with a bow or rifle. You see the love of land is contagious, and there is an indescribable satisfaction in stewarding a resource which gives back a value much greater than dollars and cents. So as a landowner with a desire to steward your land with the greatest impact, where do you start?

There are many private firms that can help with setting up a stewardship management plan depending upon the goals of a ranch. As an example, we represent the 10,649-acre Blue Creek Ranch east of Montrose, Colorado, which is for sale. This is a spectacular ranch with approximately 50 ponds and 1.5 miles of the East Fork of the Little Cimarron and 3.8 miles of Blue Creek. Water equals life, and this ranch has it in abundance. In 2015, Shannon Skelton of Sweetwater fisheries was retained by the owners to develop a river habitat restoration project on two miles of Blue Creek. Every inch of this natural fishery was assessed to develop structures, vegetation and insect quantities to maintain the highest level of fish habitat allowed with the historical flows. The net result is a river with strategic access points allowing enhanced angler use along the river and a 144 percent increase in species richness and diversity. This is now a spectacular fishery which is a phenomenal asset to the ranch using a private contractor and private resources.

One of the well-known public resources to help with landowner assistance is the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). In Colorado, NRCS has historically been known for providing cost share grants to enhance irrigation projects on a ranch. NRCS has irrigation professionals on staff to engineer irrigation systems and give counsel on the system installation. Most grants are on a cost share basis, providing 50 percent to 80 percent funding depending upon the complexity of the project. Another form of NRCS grant funding is focused on habitat restoration. As an example, a few years ago, a group of us purchased a fantastic 4,300-acre ranch north of Paonia, Colorado, in the North Fork Valley. This ranch was once owned by an energy company who had a great interest in the minerals, but little interest in the surface. We entered a habitat restoration project with the

assistance of NRCS to meet goals centered around wildlife and livestock. The NRCS land specialists were great consultants to provide insight as we developed this plan. Our objective was to establish the best wildlife habitat possible as our objective was the restoration of big game habitat and enhanced livestock grazing. Our project for stewardship included completing a new boundary survey, all new exterior fencing, re-building or installing over 30 ponds and clearing brush from roadways utilizing a masticator affixed to a 40,000-pound excavator. This excavator accumulated over 2,000 hours of use on the ranch over two summers. Because there was so much improvement to the wildlife habitat, the ranch qualified for a NRCS grant, allowing an additional 450 acres of brush mitigation. The net result was a ranch which came alive. Wildlife had such an attraction to the ranch, the local division of wildlife got involved recommending seed mix and direct consultation. Unbeknownst to us, our stewardship program provided a sanctuary for wildlife, reducing wildlife pressure on the local highway. Our hope was elk would thrive and did they ever—with photos of bull elk over 360 inches. What we did not expect were the five bull moose and numerous cow moose that now inhabit the ranch. Stewardship was our objective, driven by the love of the land. We never imagined how much impact this program would have outside the ranch, much less the overall impact on the ranch wildlife and personal satisfaction.

As I reflect over the last six months, we have experienced a global pandemic and, in recent days, social unrest as we continue to deal with issues of racism leading to moments of complete anarchy. Stewardship is assessing a situation with the desire to make it better because you love it. Then creating an objective with good counsel, and once accomplished, realizing your impact may have been greater than you expected. My hope is that individually we may take stewardship over the state and our country assessing how, with good counsel, we can become better collectively, knowing that we are all equal whether our skin is red, yellow, black or white. We are all precious in our creator’s sight. If so, the impact we can reach will stretch farther than we ever imagine, and we will live with greater satisfaction than money can buy. Love your neighbor—Buy Land!!

JOSEPH (JOEY) C. BURNS, Eagle Land Brokerage Owner/Broker RLI Colorado Chapter President