Fort Collins buys Soapstone Ranch

By Dan MacArthur
Correspondent

The recent sale of the nearly 20-square-mile Soapstone Ranch gives momentum to ambitious plans for preserving a vast swath of open lands across northern Larimer County.

The Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project seeks to set aside some 70,000 acres during the next 10 years. Right on the heels of the Soapstone Ranch purchase, the foothills project got yet another boost from Great Outdoors Colorado.

The county, city of Fort Collins and The Nature Conservancy were invited to apply for the large-scale concept grant program sponsored by GOCO, the agency that distributes state lottery proceeds for parks and open space projects. The three partners are now seeking $12 million for more open space preservation. Part of that grant could be applied to purchase the Red Mountain Ranch, which borders much of Soapstone. The 15,000-acre ranch --13,000 of which are in Colorado--is currently listed for $10.8 million.

"We're trying to put together a puzzle that gets more than Red Mountain Ranch protected," said K-Lynn Cameron, Larimer County open lands manager.

Fort Collins natural areas manager Mark Sears said proponents believe that the local commitment already demonstrated by buying Soapstone Ranch should strengthen their bid for the GOCO grant. "Soapstone is definitely one key piece to this project," he said. "It could be a huge leverage in that grant."

Fort Collins on May 20 completed its purchase of the ranch's 12,579 deeded acres. The property extends as much as 4 miles into Colorado from the Wyoming border and stretches 8 miles from Table Mountain on the west to within 5 miles of Interstate 25 on the east. The ranch also contains 3,873 acres of publicly owned land belonging to the State Land Board, bringing the size of the entire parcel to 25 square miles. For several miles it also adjoins the 25,580-acre Meadow Springs Ranch, owned by the city for disposal of its sewage sludge.

Big picture

Conservationists hail the purchase as a rare opportunity to preserve a sizable chunk of property as the foundation for an even broader vision of an open-space corridor extending from the Pawnee Grasslands into the mountains.

"This was a once-in-forever opportunity," said Sears.

The chorus of support has been disrupted by some discord among those questioning the use of so much in Fort Collins sales tax proceeds to purchase a dry-land cattle ranch 25 miles north of the city.

"It's astronomical I think," said city council member Karen Weitkunat. "We have moved into what I call environmental greed - buy anything at any price to preserve the environment."

She was the only one of seven council members to at first oppose the sale. Weitkunat later supported it after the deal was restructured to eliminate the purchase of the 10,500 acres in Wyoming, which the city planned to immediately resell.

"I don't know why it had to be now," said Weitkunat. "That's the part I never bought into."

Sears said time was of the essence because it was unlikely that the stars and the planets would ever again so favorably align. "It's a rare opportunity that 20 shareholders would decide to sell," he said. And if the city didn't act, the land could have been broken up into smaller ranches, making it almost impossible to preserve.

"Open Space Yes! (sales tax) has given us the ability to go out and do more regional conservation," said Sears. Previously, he said, Fort Collins was limited to acquiring only community separator lands and open space within its immediate growth management area. He estimated that the tax issue approved by voters in 2002 would generate from $5 million to $6 million a year.

Sears said nobody expected to make such a sizable outlay in the first year of the program. "We just happened to be able to make that purchase," he said.

While Sears acknowledged that the Soapstone buy will completely deplete the regional acquisition fund for the rest of the year, he said it was too good a deal to pass up.

$7.3 million price tag

Fort Collins paid $7.287 million for 12,579 acres with an appraised value of $6.3 million. The nearly $1 million difference, Sears said, went toward a restrictive covenant on 3,000 acres in Wyoming that abut the city's property. He said the restriction is to assure no visible development will occur within sight of the city's property.

Removing the Colorado ranch acreage from property tax rolls will result in a $6,352 loss in tax revenues, according to the Larimer County Assessor's Office.

The entire ranch originally comprised 23,000 acres. The remaining 10,500 acres in Wyoming will remain under separate ownership.

Sears called the Soapstone purchase a "bargain" at $580 an acre. In addition to the ranch itself, he said, the city wants the State Land Board to transfer a lease on 3,873 acres now used by the Soapstone Grazing Association.

The land includes the Lindenmeier site, a National Historical Landmark archaeological site bearing artifacts of the Paleo-Indians who lived there some 10,800 years ago. The only modern evidence of habitation is a single house. The land, Sears said, has never been cultivated. It is a shortgrass and mixed-grass prairie with wetlands, riparian areas and shrublands that provide prime wildlife habitat. It is a geologically rich area with red stone cliffs, intermittent streams, rolling hills and dry washes.

Sears said there will be no immediate changes in the land and much of it likely will continue to be used for grazing. He said it will be leased back to the Soapstone Grazing Association through 2005, when a management plan will be completed. That management plan will consider options ranging from retaining the ranch, to selling a portion and retaining conservation easements, to selling the entire ranch and retaining conservation easements and access.

In any event, Sears said parts of the ranch eventually will be opened for recreation such as hiking, biking and horseback riding. "We would hope to have Soapstone open to some sort of public access by 2006-2007," he said.

Sears acknowledged that some today have legitimate doubts about the purchase. "Maybe it doesn't make sense from a recreational viewpoint today," he said, "but this purchase we think will make great sense in the next five to 10 years."