County still expecting to sign agreement with Bear Ranch

Land exchange legislation still working its way through

A land exchange between William Koch, owner of Bear Ranch, on the west side of Kebler Pass, and the Federal Government will someday give Gunnison County a trail easement spanning a missing link for a future path between Crested Butte and Carbondale.

County manager Matthew Birnie said the details of a separate agreement between the county and Bear Ranch need to be worked out and signed, but that the county will still get an easement across the property once the exchange takes place, along with all of the other guarantees that weren’t included in the land exchange bill.
Gunnison County is planning to use its easement to fill in the missing link of public access to complete the non-motorized Crested Butte-Carbondale Trail. The county is also making Bear Ranch pay for a non-motorized trail to be built alongside the Raggeds Trail, which is open to motorized users. Building that trail will still require federal approval.
Rep. John Salazar introduced HR 5059, addressing the proposed Bear Ranch land exchange, in April. The bill—if it makes its way through committee debate, the amendment process and is signed into law—would transfer 1,846 acres of public land running through the middle of Bear Ranch into private hands and give 991 acres of private land back to the public.
Running through the public land is County Road 2, which provides motorized access between Paonia Reservoir and the Ragged Mountains. There has been some discussion about the fate of that right of way.
The private land is made up of an 80-acre parcel in the Dinosaur National Monument and another 911 acres in the Curecanti National Recreation Area, known as the Sapinero Mesa parcel.
While the trade might seem out of balance, the bill does require Bear Ranch to make a cash payment to the Secretary of the Interior if the value of the land it receives in the trade is ever appraised higher than the value of land it’s giving up.
The public land being transferred to Bear Ranch would also get a permanent conservation easement, only allowing the land to be used for agricultural or recreational uses or as open space and wildlife habitat, according to the bill. It also requires the local and federal governments to start developing a travel management plan for the area to address issues regarding public access to federal land.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park & Curecanti National Recreation Area management assistant Dave Roberts says Sapinero Mesa is worth the cost and not just for its location in the view shed or its wildlife habitat. The Park Service want to protect it from residential development.
“The Nature Conservancy holds a deed of conservation easement on the Sapinero Mesa parcel, which was acquired from a previous owner. The easement allows for the construction of up to five residences,” Roberts said. “Acquisition of the Sapinero parcel would prevent the construction of five residences.”
According to a letter Salazar wrote to the Delta County Independent addressing concerns from people who were afraid of losing access to federal land, the bill also “protects all valid existing utility rights of way and preserves access to federal lands east of the Bear Ranch via Kebler Pass.”
In response to rumors that the deal was struck with the interests of Koch, who owns Gunnison Energy, in mind, Salazar wrote that the mineral rights that are currently held by the Bureau of Land Management would continue to be federally controlled.
As for County Road 2, Gunnison County Trails Commission chairwoman Joellen Fonken said there would be a “three-year travel management period where we negotiate with the landowner what easements will take place and discuss County Road 2.”