County may form committee to study ranch

Posted 3/1/18

At a meeting last week, commissioners indicated they plan to form a committee to look at ways to improve the former Beartooth Ranch. That tentative decision came after a lengthy back-and-forth discussion with members of the East Yellowstone Chapter …

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County may form committee to study ranch

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Park County commissioners — looking to shake up the management of a piece of state land in Clark — have decided to slow things down after hearing concerns from local residents.

At a meeting last week, commissioners indicated they plan to form a committee to look at ways to improve the former Beartooth Ranch. That tentative decision came after a lengthy back-and-forth discussion with members of the East Yellowstone Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the general public.

Commissioners had been preparing to ask Gov. Matt Mead to give the 657-acre parcel to the county, believing the ranch has fallen into poor condition because of federal restrictions on the property. However, the letter the county drafted drew controversy — in part because commissioners discussed the possibility of turning around and selling the ranch to a private owner.

Several of the people who filled up the commission’s meeting room last week expressed concern about losing access to the hundreds of acres of land along and near the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River.

Commissioners, meanwhile, defended their record of fighting for public access and complained their intentions for the former ranch have been misunderstood and misrepresented.

But at the end of the at-times contentious discussion, everyone seemed to agree to try working together through a committee.

“This is getting to a resolution hopefully that everybody can endorse, and I think that’s what everybody wanted to do: make this situation better, right?” said Commission Chairman Loren Grosskopf. “That’s the purpose of all this and that’s our end game.”

The federal government seized the Beartooth Ranch from a drug smuggler in 1997. Seized property is generally sold off and the proceeds put toward drug enforcement efforts, but in this case, the government kept the land. Park County had been in-line to receive the ranch because of the assistance the Sheriff’s Office provided in catching the smuggler, but the State of Wyoming stepped in and obtained the land in 1999, Sheriff Scott Steward has said.

Federal restrictions prohibit the property from being sold and require that it be “reserved for recreational or historic purposes or for the preservation of natural conditions” outside of some grazing and 80 acres that can be used for agriculture.

The property — particularly the area around the former ranch house and outbuildings — has fallen into disrepair over its years of state ownership.

Citing the ranch’s degraded condition, Clark resident Lloyd Thiel approached commissioners in December and asked them to work with state leaders to have the federal deed restrictions relaxed. With the limits on the property, he said it’s difficult to come up with a use for the property that’s allowed; in the meantime, tax dollars are being spent dealing with weeds and vandalism and other issues, Thiel said.

“It was not the intent to have it sold, it was not the intent for the county to take it, it was the intent to put some pressure on our [legislators] down in Cheyenne and our senators and representatives” in Congress to remove the federal restrictions, Thiel explained at last week’s meeting.

Commissioners, however, reached a consensus in December that they would prefer to have the land in county hands; commissioner Tim French suggested selling it to a private buyer.

“I said let’s sell it and let’s get it back on the property tax rolls and I guarantee you, I’ve had numerous people say absolutely, it’s an eyesore out there; leave all the access in place ...” French said last week.

Other people have said absolutely not.

Speaking on behalf of the East Yellowstone Chapter of Trout Unlimited, “We do believe the state land should remain like it is,” Tim Wade said at last week’s meeting.

The fishing guide and former county commissioner highlighted how the property is used by anglers, rafters and wildlife.

“We want to maintain that whole 657 acres for access,” Wade said.

If the property was to sell, a public easement for fishing access along the river corridor would remain, but “that’s much different than what we have now,” said Clark resident Kristie Hoffert.

She and her husband, Tracy Lewis, spoke of how much they enjoy the property.

“I run that road just about every day and I am pretty protective of it,” Hoffert said.

She said there’s been concern “that there was any consideration that it be taken from state land, that we all have access to and love, to a private property by some multi-millionaire, most likely not [from] anywhere near this area.”

Len Fortunato of Pheasants Forever and the Cody Anglers Group pressed the commissioners on whether they wanted to acquire the land or simply change its management.

“We’re not taking a vote,” responded Commissioner Jake Fulkerson, who became visibly frustrated with Fortunato’s line of questioning. Fulkerson said the commission was looking for input and would make a decision later.

“As it stands right now, that [acquisition] would be one of the options,” Grosskopf said.

In the letter the commission drafted to Gov. Mead, they asked him to give the property to the county “without restrictions, while retaining access to public easements.” The draft did not say what the county would do with the land.

However, commissioners never sent the letter — in part because a member of the East Yellowstone Chapter of Trout Unlimited asked them to wait until the group could provide input; Grosskopf had agreed to put the subject back on the commission’s agenda.

In the meantime, the local Trout Unlimited chapter wrote a Jan. 24 letter decrying the commission’s tentative request for the ranch as “nothing more than a land grab” aimed at selling to the highest bidder. They sent the missive to the commission, plus the governor, local lawmakers and other state and federal officials.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition also sent a letter to most of those recipients on Feb. 8, strongly opposing the commission’s tentative request.

“We are disappointed that your … draft letter neglects to mention the important public uses and values that have been exercised on this property since it became publicly owned land and continue to this day,” wrote Jenny DeSarro, a staffer for the organization in Cody.

Both the coalition and the Trout Unlimited group said the commission’s request appeared to be “illegal.”

The remarks didn’t sit well with commissioners.

French repeatedly called the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s letter “a joke.”

Commissioner Joe Tilden said he took “great offense” to accusations that the commission was trying to curb access, saying the board has “bent over backwards to maintain public access” through the years.

Commissioners Grosskopf and Lee Livingston said they found the letters “disconcerting.”

“You might not agree with what we do, but being accused of attempting to do something illegal, that hits pretty hard,” said Livingston.

At the outset of his remarks, Wade said Trout Unlimited was trying to wave an olive branch.

“We’re not saying you’re trying to do anything illegally, perceived or otherwise,” Wade said later.

“You did,” Livingston interjected.

Ken Lichtendahl, a Clark resident and Greater Yellowstone Coalition board member, suggested it might be a misunderstanding. He advocated for the formation of a committee to look at “what we could do to make it [the property] special.”

Lewis said he was willing to help with fixes to the ranch house; Fortunato said Pheasants Forever and other conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited could help with some projects to enhance the property.

Commissioners indicated they wanted to explore all those options through a committee.

French said he was glad the ranch’s condition was getting attention and called it “great” that people were willing to step forward and help. He expressed hope for a “win-win.”

“Something needs to be done out there, however it is done,” French said, adding, “It could be so much better than it is now.”

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