Buckeye ranchers preserve way of life by joining forces

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

It's amazing what can be accomplished around a kitchen table, especially when that table has a magnificent view of windswept, rolling prairie and distant mountains--a view that includes more raptors than rooftops, more fence posts than people.

In the Buckeye area northwest of Wellington, kitchen table talk has grown into a large-scale land conservation effort, a project that has been applauded by the Larimer County commissioners and the county's parks and open lands department. Several neighbors working together have put conservation easements on a total of 949 acres so far, and the number keeps growing.

The county got an early Christmas gift this fall when Buckeye neighbors purchased 283 acres at the Holcim cement plant's land auction - property that fits into their current ranching operations. This land will be also be put into conservation easements in the coming year. With the Holcim property, the county investment in all this protected ag land will total just $113,000.

In addition to the wide-open view, the Buckeye area boasts other unique features, including dinosaur tracks, tipi rings and close proximity to the historic Overland Trail. It's home to deer, elk, mountain lions and eagles, and it serves as one of the last open wildlife corridors in northern Colorado. More than 300 elk live in the area, co-existing with several cow-calf operations.

Ag vs. development

The Buckeye project began with neighborhood discussions in the late 1990s at the home of Dan Miller and Mary Beth Simon. The couple, who have ranched in the area since 1970, were looking for ways to preserve their agricultural way of life.

With development constantly knocking at the door, they knew it would be a challenge. As relatively small landowners, they also knew they couldn't do it alone.

The Buckeye area is "a special place," Miller said, and he wanted to keep it that way. He and Simon began educating themselves about alternatives to development, and they passed the information on to anyone in the area who would listen. Miller and Simon established their first conservation easement in 1999 on 110 acres.

The ball really got rolling in 2001 when several neighbors joined forces to create easements on 494 acres. The neighbors included Kathy DeSmith and Kate Hedron of the Left Hand Ranch, Ken and Edie Yates of the Park Creek Ranch, and the Charles Miller Family Partnership including Dan Miller, his father Chuck, and siblings Jeff and Molly.

The 2001 project was complicated, requiring lots of planning and cooperation among the neighbors involved. They applied for a grant through The Nature Conservancy in order to make the project work. To qualify, the land had to have several features such as undisturbed prairie, historical features and endangered species.

Together, the group met all the requirements. The $210,000 grant, using Great Outdoors Colorado funds, helped to pay for appraisals, surveys and legal work to create the conservation easements. Together with funds from the county and the Legacy Land Trust, the grant also provided some cash to the landowners as partial payment for the development rights.

According to Edie Yates, the project worked because everyone had the same goal--keeping the Buckeye area intact for agriculture. "It's a good thing for Colorado," she said. "We need to have these protected areas so we can still enjoy Colorado and the West the way it was."

The Yates property holds dinosaur tracks and bones, plus Native American ceremonial rings. Many school children and college students come to the ranch, Yates said, to see the archeological finds and just to hike on the property.

Since the joint effort in 2001, Miller and Simon have put additional conservation easements on their property. Another nearby ranching couple, Bryant and Patty Miller, joined the effort this fall when they purchased 160 acres at the Holcim auction. This land will be put into a conservation easement in 2006.

What makes the Buckeye conservation project unusual is that neighbors got together in a joint effort, working to protect open space in an area larger than just their own property. "It's really a grassroots effort," said K-Lynn Cameron, manager of the county's open lands program. "This kind of model is something we would like to emulate in other parts of the county."

In fact, that's already happening. According to Steve Ryder, executive director of the Legacy Land Trust, other agricultural communities are beginning to band together to conserve their land and their way of life. One of those is the Crow Valley area around Briggsdale in Weld County. As more ranchers become familiar with the tax credits available, Ryder thinks the movement will spread.

Common concerns

While the overriding motivation for the Buckeye conservation effort was preserving a way of life, some of the ranchers say that tax breaks and tax credits associated with conservation easements have helped to keep their operations viable. In brief, here's how these tax incentives work.

With a conservation easement, land is taxed on its original agricultural value, which is lower than the value with development potential. Lower property taxes help ranchers stay in business.

In addition, having the land designated as agricultural keeps estate taxes lower. Estate tax issues were a big factor for the Charles Miller family. Frequently, estate taxes are so high on ranch properties that heirs must sell part of the family holdings to pay the tax bill. With a conservation easement, estate taxes are less, making it possible to keep land in the family.

A relatively new state tax credit offers further advantages. With a conservation easement, landowners voluntarily restrict development to protect the important features of the site. These features could be natural or scenic values, wildlife habitat or agricultural use. The development value is calculated, and this value can be purchased by the county.

However, when landowners donate part or all of the development value, they can claim a state tax credit for part of the donated amount. The first $100,000 donated generates a $100,000 tax credit. After that, tax credits are figured at 40 percent of the donation, up to a maximum credit of $260,000 per year. It would take a $500,000 donation to generate the maximum tax credit.

Tax credits earned by a landowner are often sold at a discount to a business or individual with a significant state tax liability.

By selling their credits, the Charles Miller and Miller-Simon families have been able to generate funds to purchase more property, including some of the Holcim land offered at auction this fall. Edie Yates said that cash generated in this way has helped her family to improve their ranching operation.

The beauty of the system, said Simon, is that part of the value of the land can be donated, but the ranchers still retain the property. "We still have the land," she said, "and we know it won't change."

While Miller, Simon and their neighbors are relatively small landowners, some large Buckeye acreages are also being preserved for agricultural use. The Ackerman and Roberts families, long-time ranchers in the area, have added thousands of acres to the cache of protected property in Larimer County through the use of conservation easements.

And, on an even larger scale, the Buckeye projects are part of the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains project. This conservation effort has a goal of protecting 55,400 acres by the year 2008. Already, 30,000 acres are protected in the target area, including the Red Mountain Ranch and the Soapstone Ranch.

Looking out the kitchen window of their home, Miller and Simon see a few cattle, the Mummy Range and not much else.

That's the way they like it. And if their efforts--and those of their neighbors--pay off, their grandchildren will have the same view. "We're hoping they will appreciate what we've started here," Miller said.