WHEATLAND - As clouds hovered over the mountain, the sun crept through and greeted people attending an open house near Laramie Peak Tuesday morning.

The late Lt. Col. William Rogers, a retired Army officer, died in August 2003 and had bequeathed 320 acres of land 30 miles northwest of Wheatland, known as Fletcher Park, to the University of Wyoming. The open house was for university personnel to get ideas on what the public would like to see the property used for, and what people think would be the most beneficial for the land and the university.

Jim Freeburn, director of the UW Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Office in Torrington and Lingle, led the tour of about 70 people and described the possible opportunities the university has come up with for the land.

The terrain consists of meadows, thick forest and shrubland.

"This is a rare treasure, in my estimation," Freeburn said. "One of the stipulations in the will said that the university was to put it to beneficial use in … forest research within five years of his death, and we're two years into that."

Several faculty members including Steve Williams and Ryan Martin, were on hand for the tour and will do research on the property.

Williams, a professor in the College of Agriculture's Department of Renewable Resources, and Rik Smith, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, said they plan to research the nitrogen-fixing capability of antelope bitterbrush, one of the important shrub species on the property.

The U.S. Forest Service also wants to do some cooperative work with the university on range management, which will include some prescribed fires, Freeburn added.

"The Game and Fish is interested in aspen regeneration research, and they want to be involved in the prescribed burning," Freeburn said.

Martin said the land contains important habitat next to national forest lands for elk, deer and bighorn sheep. He added that there are "plenty of wild turkeys up here."

On the land is the cabin of caretaker Jim O'Brien, an old bathhouse, a privy and a cabin that was Rogers' living space. Another cabin on the northeast corner of the property was also a part of the tour, and a walk to a reservoir on the property showed the attendees the breathtaking landscape of the area.

A friend of the family, Levida Hileman of Casper, said Rogers bought the Fletcher Park land in the 1960s.

"He really enjoyed spending time up there," Hileman said in a UW news release. "He had a definite love of wildlife and nature and wanting to preserve."

O'Brien will stay on as caretaker, and he might even be able to help the university in some research.