June 1, 2005

Denver Post

Desperation leads to preservation
A Wet Mountain Valley rancher who stood to lose the family land cuts a conservation deal to save it and finds himself at the movement's forefront

By Theo Stein

Westcliffe - Given his druthers, Randy Rusk would rather raise cattle, bale hay and drink in the views from his Wet Mountain Valley ranch.

But the potential breakup of his parent's 1,800-acre operation pushed a reluctant Rusk to the head of a campaign to preserve Colorado's vanishing rural landscapes.

"It sure wasn't the intent at the start," said Rusk, 55. "I'd be content to stay here and be a cowpuncher - there's no doubt."

But instead of losing the Rusk Hereford Ranch to the pincers of development and unfavorable economics, Rusk and several conservation partners have stitched together agreements with owners of 11,000 acres to bar development from much of the valley floor forever.

About 4,000 acres are already under conservation easements; the rest of the deals are expected to be completed this year.

The project started with a visit from the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit conservation group.

"We hatched the program leaning over the hood of Randy's truck on a high point overlooking the valley," said Doug Robotham, state director of the Trust for Public Land.

And they started close to home.

Like many ranching families, Harvey and Jean Rusk intended to split their ranch equally among their three children. But Randy's brother and sister didn't want to ranch, and Randy couldn't raise the money to buy them out from cattle alone.

So in 2001, Rusk's father sold an easement to the Trust for Public Land that allowed Rusk to buy out his brother and sister.

Giving up the right to develop their land cut its value by almost a third. But it saved the ranch so Randy can now pass it on to his son, who helps run the operation with his father and grandfather.

A second phase of the Wet Mountain Valley project will target about 20,000 acres in the southern part of the basin.

But don't mistake the lanky rancher for a preservationist. Rusk is skeptical of land trusts that buy land and then idle it. "My opinion is, agriculture is the very best use of the land, period," he says.

After the Trust for Public Land completed the deal, it deeded the easement to the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust.

The cattlemen took one look at Rusk and invited him to be on their board.

"He's so humble," said the Colorado group's executive director, Lynne Sherrod. "He doesn't realize how powerful a story he has because he just views himself trying to do what's best for his family."

This month, the Colorado trust celebrates its 10th anniversary and 100th conservation easement with a barbecue in Steamboat Springs. The group has protected almost 185,000 acres of ranch land across the state.

Rusk has helped instigate an effort to protect the Saguache Creek Corridor that won a $3.7 million grant from Great Outdoors Colorado earlier this year.

GOCO has been one of the Colorado group's biggest supporters, awarding the land trust $6.3 million in lottery fund grants since 1996, spokeswoman Chris Leding said.

Rusk's success in protecting a huge swath of the valley has won him enemies as well as admirers. His recent unsuccessful run for Custer County commissioner exposed some of those rifts.

"I got beat up by developers pretty good," Rusk said. "It's not a popular thing to do, giving away 30 percent of your net worth."

Rusk bluntly questions the long- term cost of converting agricultural land to residential. A study of Custer County by the Sonoran Institute showed residential properties require $1.30 in county services for every $1 generated by property taxes. Agricultural land, by contrast, costs the county 50 cents per dollar.

Rusk points across the valley floor to a 3,000-acre tract he leases next to the San Isabel National Forest. Developers offered the landowners $6.8 million for it, he said.

"If you do everything right - high-intensity husbandry, video sales to hit the best prices, everything - you can generate $10,000 per year," Rusk said.

"You're managing a $6.8 million asset for a $10,000 return. That's a lot of pressure."