MIKE STARK Billings Gazette | Posted: Thursday, November 2, 2006 12:00 am
BILLINGS, Mont. - Owning a slice of paradise isn't what it used to be.
Generations of ranchers on the rural fringes of Yellowstone National Park passed their land to offspring or sold it to like-minded people.
But for the past decade and longer, more ranches have been snatched up by people with less interest in turning a buck off the land than weekend trips, trout fishing and catching a glimpse of an elk or wolf on their property, according to a new study.
In sales involving 400 acres or more outside Yellowstone, only 26 percent of buyers were "traditional ranchers," according to researchers' study of records from 1990 to 2001.
The largest category, at 39 percent, were "amenity buyers," those who want the land not primarily for agriculture production but for its recreation and ambience, the study said.
The new buyers often arrive with a different set of values from those who have family ties stretching back generations.
In some cases the new owners try to fit in, and in some cases they don't. Either way, they're transforming the social and natural dynamics, said Hannah Gosnell, an assistant geography professor at Oregon State University, one of the study's authors.
"It's not black and white, there's a whole range of new owners," Gosnell said. "The one thing they have in common is they're pretty wealthy."
The study, published in the journal Society and Natural Resources, is one of the first to quantify what many have observed about the transition of ranches in parts of the West, and around Yellowstone in particular.
A tough agricultural market and attrition among younger ranchers has made it difficult to turn away lucrative offers from outsiders looking to buy chunks of rural land near Yellowstone.
The study, conducted by researchers from Oregon State University, the University of Colorado and the University of Otago in New Zealand, analyzed 582 land sales in 10 Montana and Wyoming counties outside Yellowstone.
They found that nearly 1.5 million acres of private land changed hands between 1990 and 2001, about 22 percent of large agricultural operations in the greater Yellowstone area.
A few areas had turnover rates close to 50 percent during the 1990s, including Paradise Valley and Madison Valley in Montana and the Upper Green River basin in Wyoming.
Aside from "amenity buyers," the researchers found that investors were involved in 14 percent of the purchases, part-time ranchers were 6 percent and conservation groups were 2 percent.
Contrary to what some might think, developers bought only 6 percent, and the researchers found few instances overall where the land was subdivided. The study area, though, didn't include fast-developing areas in Gallatin County, Mont., and Jackson Hole.
In many cases, the valley ranches have become weekend and vacation getaways for the wealthy, some of whom pursue ecological restoration, others who have a few "hobby" cattle and others who simply want seclusion.
Jim Taylor, managing director of Billings-based Hall and Hall Inc., said he saw the trend start in the mid- to late-1980s and it's been running strong ever since. Among other things, his company represents buyers and sellers in deals for large ranches.
Wealthy buyers are drawn to the area for its natural beauty and to ranches for their location, the fishing, a romantic ideal of rural lifestyle and a number of other factors, he said.
"It's a pretty compelling place to put your money. You're buying a place with intrinsic value," Taylor said.
Amenities like airports, shopping and good restaurants add to the allure, but proximity to a place like Yellowstone can put it over the top.
"People are paying more for those places because there's not very many of them around a huge protected area," he said. "It's like buying on a beach."
The change in ownership also has implications for wildlife.
In some cases, the new owners are more apt to allow elk, wolves and others to linger on their property, which can be good for animals seeking safe habitat but problematic for nearby ranchers still trying to keep their cattle operation running, Gosnell said.
Some aren't inclined to keep the area open for hunting, an unpopular choice among many sportsmen and creating complications for wildlife managers.
"It makes hunting as a management tool difficult to implement sometimes," said Don Childress, wildlife administrator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
One of the biggest questions is how the change in ownership patterns will shape the long-term future of the land.
It's possible that the new owners are in it for the long haul and it's possible that when it comes time to pass it to the next generation, they won't be interested and the ranches will hit the sale block again, Gosnell said.
"There's just not a lot of certainty with the current ownership pattern," Gosnell said.
What's not going to change is the powerful draw that a place like Yellowstone and its surrounding region will have on potential buyers.
"Probably as these landscapes with amazing environmental amenities become more rare they will become more and more valuable," Gosnell said.
The study was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Yellowstone Heritage.