GOLDEN BAIR RANCH
“Each generation
has its own rendezvous with the land, for despite fee titles and claims of
ownership, we are all brief tenants on this planet. By choice or by
default, we will carve a land legacy for our heirs.”
Stewart
Udall
Golden Bair Ranch offered a
unique opportunity to protect the western gateway to Eagle County and the
critical viewshed of the Glenwood Canyon along the Colorado River. In a single
day, more than 15,000 travelers along Interstate 70 enjoy the commanding views
of the ranch’s mountain meadows, sweeping stands of aspen and oak, and evergreen
slopes that extend up to the canyon rim and into the backcountry. Those who take
time to pull off at the Bair Ranch rest-stop find a beautiful setting with
picnic tables, overlooks for visitors to enjoy the sights and sounds of the
Colorado River, and accessibility to the Glenwood Canyon bike path.
Interpretive signage highlights the cultural and historic significance of Bair
Ranch. These views, coupled with diverse ecosystems on the ranch, its wildlife
and its importance to the Colorado River watershed lead Colorado Attorney
General Ken Salazar to name it as one of the ten “crown jewels” of remaining
open space in the State.
A family’s love of the land
Almost completely
surrounded by Forest Service and BLM land, the 4,830 acre Golden Bair Ranch has
been a working sheep ranch since the early 1900’s. It was one of the first large
sheep ranches in the area. Today, it is one of the last.
Like so many other area
ranches, particularly along major transportation corridors, it was highly
developable. Indeed, it is one of the last major undeveloped properties between
Vail and Glenwood Springs. 
Mindful of this ranching
heritage and wishing to protect the ranch forever from potential development,
the Bairs approached the Eagle Valley Land Trust and The Conservation Fund in
2001 with an idea. After significant family discussions, they stepped forward
with a proposal to sell a 4,318-acre conservation easement over most of the
ranch and fee title to a separate 512-acre parcel along the Colorado River.
In
this resort-dominated area of Colorado where ranches are rapidly being purchased
for development, the conservation easement will protect the Bair Ranch from rural
subdivision and development. It will protect an inspiring viewshed along I-70.
It will forever preserve an important wildlife habitat and watershed. It will
enable the Bair family to continue its historic sheep ranching operation. And,
it will assist the management capabilities on adjacent public lands.
Cost-effective conservation
The cost to purchase the
property’s development rights was $5.1 million, with an additional $150,000
required for transactional costs. Thus, the cost to protect forever 4,830 acres
of land with all its inherent conservation values was only $1,087 per acre, a
great bargain by any standard.
A wealth of
conservation values
Through Internal Revenue
tax codes, the Federal government has identified key conservation criteria.
These include “protection of open space, including farmland and forest land,
protection of relatively natural habitat for fish, wildlife, plants, or similar
ecosystems, preservation of historically important land area, and/or
preservation of land areas for outdoor recreation by, or education of, the
general public”.
Eagle County voters
approved another set of criteria when they approved an open space tax in
November 2002. According to the ballot language, these tax monies are to be used
for the “purpose of acquiring, maintaining or permanently preserving open space
in Eagle County such as: preserving wildlife habitat, protecting working farms
and ranches, conserving scenic landscapes and vistas, protecting wetlands and
floodplains, and providing public access points to rivers and streams”.
Clearly, the Bair Ranch
project met these criteria in a number of ways, specifically:
The project encompasses a
total of 4,830 acres of open space ranch lands. Additionally, the Ranch is
surrounded by thousands of additional acres of Forest Service and BLM land
that will forever remain an unbroken spanse of open space.
-
Protection of relatively natural habitat for fish, wildlife, plants, or
similar ecosystems/ preserving wildlife habitat
The ranch has three miles
of frontage on the Colorado River and includes associated riparian areas and
hot springs. These lands provide habitat for ducks, geese, and many other
species of waterfowl and aquatic life.
The mountain portion of
the ranch features diverse wildlife. The ranch provides both summer and
critical winter range for large numbers of elk and deer and, at its higher
elevations, possible habitat for the Canada lynx. Black bear, coyotes, and
numerous other mammals and birds are indigenous to the property.
Vegetation on the
property is as varied as the topography. Cottonwood trees, willows, and
coniferous trees are located in the riparian areas along the Colorado River
and the four drainages on the property. Higher elevations are heavily forested
with aspen, Ponderosa pine, pinyon pine, juniper trees, and scrub oak. Mixed
scrub including mountain mahogany, scrub oak, and sagebrush covers hillsides
at lower elevations.
The ranch has been in the
Bair family for nearly a century. It continues today as a working sheep ranch.
In a very real way, it is a “living history” of a way of life that was once
very much part of the
West but is rapidly vanishing as families give up this demanding way of life.
The Bair Ranch and contiguous Forest Service
and BLM properties are a wonderland of views and vistas. Elevations on the
property range from 6,100 feet at the Colorado River to 8,600 feet at the
south end of the property. The topography is rugged and varied, from lush valley and irrigated hay
meadows at the lower elevations to commanding ridgelines and
escarpments at the higher elevations, including Ike Ridge and Spruce Ridge. A canyon rim forms a natural
barrier in the backcountry on the southwest part of the ranch. The Dock Flats
parcel is a beautiful open park at an elevation of 8,900 feet.
Fee purchase 512 acres of
land, including three miles of river front along the Colorado River,
provides opportunities for fishing, rafting, kayaking, hiking, bird watching
and other recreation activities for the general public. Additionally,
acquisition of this property opens new access to thousands of acres of
adjacent BLM property.
Several important
drainages with 12 miles of riparian stream frontage cross the property in a
south to north direction and flow into the Colorado River. Given the
increasing demands on and growing controversy about Colorado River water, the
conservation easement will forever protect both the quantity and quality of
these water sources. There are also numerous springs on the property that have
ecological significance as wetlands and riparian areas.
