In 2024, a Colorado county paid $34 million for a 650-acre ranch: The wider industry impact

In 2024, a Colorado county paid $34 million for a 650-acre ranch privately owned for more than a century

Lindvig ran the ranch on her own until 1943, when she sold it to Bob Perry, his wife Ruth Brown Perry and her brother, D.R.C. The Perry family looked after the property for nearly 80 years before eventually putting it on the market. The ranch was listed for sale in 2021 for $50 million.

“Snowmass Falls Ranch is quite easily the most extraordinary piece of private land in Pitkin County,” said Dale Will, acquisition and projects director for Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, during public discussions about the proposal. “We’ve held our breath since the property was listed, but never gave up on the hope that the ranch could be preserved”. Brown, Jr. With property prices rising rapidly in Pitkin County, local conservation groups feared that the rare, connected stretch of land could be divided into expensive luxury homes.

The $34 million purchase was the largest open space acquisition in Pitkin County’s history, doubling the previous record of $17 million paid for Sky Mountain Park in 2010. The county financed the deal through open space bonds issued in 2020, along with a $10 million loan from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). The county plans to transfer 530 acres into the White River National Forest using money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The remaining 120 acres contain historic farm buildings and basic cabins. With 530 acres now moving into federal management, the former private property will receive permanent protection under the Wilderness Act.

Official records published through Pitkin County’s civic alert portal and financial information from Alpine Bank, the deal was designed to allow the county to sell a large part of the ranch to the federal government later, according to local news outlet The Slope. “The final pieces of major public land in Pitkin County that we haven’t been able to conserve are out there, and this was one of them, and it was a big one,” Tennenbaum noted. “We hope to transfer most of the ranch to the Forest Service as soon as possible, but for now, this amazing property will be open space”.

The organisation distributes state lottery money to support conservation projects by local governments. Additional help came from The Wilderness Land Trust, which worked with local officials on the federal land transfer process. This will allow Pitkin County to recover a significant part of the money it spent buying the property. These will remain under county control or be protected through a conservation easement to preserve the land and maintain future public access. The ranch is surrounded on three sides by federally protected wilderness and contains a range of habitats, including beaver ponds, spruce forests, alpine wetlands and large aspen groves. The property also has two miles of frontage along Snowmass Creek and holds senior water rights that are important for agricultural and municipal supplies downstream. The land provides important summer habitat for native wildlife, including elk, mule deer, moose, black bears and mountain lions. It also contains two natural waterfalls, including Snowmass Falls, which gives the ranch its name. The property is also important for outdoor recreation. Two major U.S. Forest Service trails cross the ranch, giving hikers and backpackers routes into the Maroon Bells-Snowmass area. With the land now under county ownership and being transferred to federal protection, public access to the trailheads will be secured permanently, ending long-running access concerns near the entrance. Gary Tennenbaum, director of Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, described the acquisition as an important moment for conservation in the county during the early stages of the purchase. The move ensures that the upper valley floor will remain undeveloped and open to the public for generations to come.