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WyomingRancher

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This must be a joke... two universities are gifted a 50,000 acre ranch to run and teach future ag students with, AND they both want to sell it?! I don't believe I'll be sending in my meager annual donation to UW after reading this, what a waste of a great teaching resource :mad:.

HORSE CREEK, Wyo.—A woman who donated her family's ranch to promote hands-on agriculture education at the University of Wyoming and Colorado State University says she's disappointed that the two schools haven't made better use of her gift as a teaching tool.
Now the universities are preparing to sell the Y Cross Ranch and Amy Davis says if she had it to do all over again, she wouldn't have donated the vast property between Cheyenne and Laramie in southeast Wyoming.

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_19695653

http://www.collegian.com/index.php/article/2012/01/colorado_states_sale_of_y_cross_ranch_prompts_outrage_from_donors
 
you need to dig a little deeper there was conservation convent placed on the deed that really hamper running the ranches at what would be a profitable operation…. One such restriction is stubble height, Yes stubble height is a good management tool but some years the rules need bent.
 
jodywy said:
you need to dig a little deeper there was conservation convent placed on the deed that really hamper running the ranches at what would be a profitable operation…. One such restriction is stubble height, Yes stubble height is a good management tool but some years the rules need bent.

Maybe they needed to run the ranch according to the Conservation Covenant and proved it is not doable. :?
 
I don't believe that's the case, they're neighbors on the forest, and a very reliable source says that it's a profitable operation. The article even mentions how it's a lean, mean, running machine. I don't think the universities ever really wanted the resource to begin with, and now that 14 years is up, they can sell.

Like you, I'd like to see actual numbers, and I'd think that would be public information.

I just find it sad that they want to dump such a neat learning resource. I agree with the CSU article, the donor should take it back, it sounds like she was interested in helping CSU buy out UW in the past. It would be nice for that sort of resource to be available to all of the MYTFarms out there to learn from.
 
We perhaps do not know all the circumstances. The owner may have donated it for reasons such as her ability to pay inheritance taxes or to receive tax deductions, which may have been quite substantial.

In any event, she made the choice and should have had a full understanding of what possibilities existed for the future new owners, including their right to convert it to cash. Pretty tough to donate something, take the tax deductions, and expect to control it too.

Hopefully it will stay a ranch, or portions go to area ranchers and remain a place for cows to graze.
 
Hopefully it will stay a ranch, or portions go to area ranchers and remain a place for cows to graze.
not sure how the concervation easment wcould be spit up if at all.


I know one Large Rancher in the Cheyenne area that CSU and UW hired to manage the CY after a few months he step down because of the easement restriction.

Then the neighboring ranch mentioned in the one article dose has some conservation easements on their property. It basically blocked subdivision but can not block oil development because the surface owner did not own the minerals (mineral estate trumps surface estate). The surface damage money is split between the land owner and the holder of the conservation easement.
True I don't know all the details in this deal but have heard grumbling for years about the restrictions which was the previous owners right to have attached to the property
 
Fantastic news in my opinion. It's another ranch available to the private enterprise system.
 
A little update...

I attended our annual forest meeting last week (Jody, Mark is the president), and we were told that the ranch has profited annually the past several years, profited over $300,000 last year alone, and the party who submitted the $18 million dollar unsolicited bid (who CSU couldn't remember the name of in the article :roll: :? ) was a neighboring landowner, who used to sit on the ranch's university foundation board (privy to finances), who also owns the majority of land in the area (think Ted Turner), and is also the son-in-law of the largest donor to UW.

I haven't been able to get a hold of a hard copy of the financial information since evidently it's held in a private foundation, and apparently they don't have to disclose to the public. They also apparently don't have to disclose where the income generated from the ranch goes... but it sounds like it's a heck of a lot more than the $12,750 figure stated in the article. Accountability anyone???

Is anybody familiar with the Noble foundation? http://www.noble.org/Ag/index.html

I'm guessing something like this is what the donor originally had hoped for when they donated this resource. The universities have both admitted they never honored the original intent of the gift, heck many students commented they never even knew the ranch existed! Maybe the donor could revoke the gift, and the Ranchers.net clan could run it as a foundation… just think of the fun we'd all have! :D

Just a question, if the donor had been incentivized solely by tax purposes, could they have originally sold the ranch, then donated the proceeds to eliminate/minimize tax consequences??? I agree, you can't dictate what happens to a gift once given, but find it ridiculous they apparently didn't even try to utilize it.
 
WyomingRancher said:
A little update...

I attended our annual forest meeting last week (Jody, Mark is the president), and we were told that the ranch has profited annually the past several years, profited over $300,000 last year alone, and the party who submitted the $18 million dollar unsolicited bid (who CSU couldn't remember the name of in the article :roll: :? ) was a neighboring landowner, who used to sit on the ranch's university foundation board (privy to finances), who also owns the majority of land in the area (think Ted Turner), and is also the son-in-law of the largest donor to UW.

I haven't been able to get a hold of a hard copy of the financial information since evidently it's held in a private foundation, and apparently they don't have to disclose to the public. They also apparently don't have to disclose where the income generated from the ranch goes... but it sounds like it's a heck of a lot more than the $12,750 figure stated in the article. Accountability anyone???

Is anybody familiar with the Noble foundation? http://www.noble.org/Ag/index.html

I'm guessing something like this is what the donor originally had hoped for when they donated this resource. The universities have both admitted they never honored the original intent of the gift, heck many students commented they never even knew the ranch existed! Maybe the donor could revoke the gift, and the Ranchers.net clan could run it as a foundation… just think of the fun we'd all have! :D

Just a question, if the donor had been incentivized solely by tax purposes, could they have originally sold the ranch, then donated the proceeds to eliminate/minimize tax consequences??? I agree, you can't dictate what happens to a gift once given, but find it ridiculous they apparently didn't even try to utilize it.
know who you are talking about, went to college with him and he said he was always going to have a big ranch..... having the right wife really helped him out there
 
Funny you should mention the Y Cross Ranch, we had gone to a branding there a few years ago and had a great time with everyone that worked there.

My kid who will be getting his masters degree this spring had come up with a great idea for the college to use the ranch better. One of the main problems is that they don't have anyone out there for the students to come out when "they" can to do their studies and research. My kid wanted to "create" a job for himself as a director of students and be there to oversee their work. He wanted to live out there so he would be available at anytime for the students. From what he had learned that students can only go out there when their professors or advisors could go, which I'm sure isn't often. Wyoming Unv. didn't think that they needed to create this kind of job at this time..Also my kid was thinking of his own studies to work on his PHD on his cattle research..Oh well,,it sounded like a great plan to me. I sure hate to see the Colleges let go of a gift like that, when the working ranch could be so helpful for education too...
 
WyomingRancher said:
A little update...

I attended our annual forest meeting last week (Jody, Mark is the president), and we were told that the ranch has profited annually the past several years, profited over $300,000 last year alone, and the party who submitted the $18 million dollar unsolicited bid (who CSU couldn't remember the name of in the article :roll: :? ) was a neighboring landowner, who used to sit on the ranch's university foundation board (privy to finances), who also owns the majority of land in the area (think Ted Turner), and is also the son-in-law of the largest donor to UW.

I haven't been able to get a hold of a hard copy of the financial information since evidently it's held in a private foundation, and apparently they don't have to disclose to the public. They also apparently don't have to disclose where the income generated from the ranch goes... but it sounds like it's a heck of a lot more than the $12,750 figure stated in the article. Accountability anyone???

Is anybody familiar with the Noble foundation? http://www.noble.org/Ag/index.html

I'm guessing something like this is what the donor originally had hoped for when they donated this resource. The universities have both admitted they never honored the original intent of the gift, heck many students commented they never even knew the ranch existed! Maybe the donor could revoke the gift, and the Ranchers.net clan could run it as a foundation… just think of the fun we'd all have! :D

Just a question, if the donor had been incentivized solely by tax purposes, could they have originally sold the ranch, then donated the proceeds to eliminate/minimize tax consequences??? I agree, you can't dictate what happens to a gift once given, but find it ridiculous they apparently didn't even try to utilize it.


Looks like maybe the donor could revoke the gift. Garth Books just did via court. He had given $500,000 to a hospital to build a women's clinic and name it after his mother. The never built a clinic and didn't name anything after his mother. The courts just gave him bake his $500,000 and another $500,000 in damages.
 
My understanding is CSU offered to buy out UW for the gift value, which was conditions of the gift. Declined. About 22 students have taken advantage of the place. CSU feels that if the purchase price was used to fund Ag scholorships (about 500k per year) it might benefit more students. They are hoping for the best of both worlds, a purchaser that would allow students to intern there. My opinion is two competing land grant institutions find it difficult to work together is part of the picture.
 
Jassy said:
Funny you should mention the Y Cross Ranch, we had gone to a branding there a few years ago and had a great time with everyone that worked there.

My kid who will be getting his masters degree this spring had come up with a great idea for the college to use the ranch better. One of the main problems is that they don't have anyone out there for the students to come out when "they" can to do their studies and research. My kid wanted to "create" a job for himself as a director of students and be there to oversee their work. He wanted to live out there so he would be available at anytime for the students. From what he had learned that students can only go out there when their professors or advisors could go, which I'm sure isn't often. Wyoming Unv. didn't think that they needed to create this kind of job at this time..Also my kid was thinking of his own studies to work on his PHD on his cattle research..Oh well,,it sounded like a great plan to me. I sure hate to see the Colleges let go of a gift like that, when the working ranch could be so helpful for education too...

Jassy, what kind of research is your son doing? I too am in grad school and finishing up my Ph.D. working on feed efficiency and RFI in cattle.
 
WVGenetics said:
Jassy said:
Funny you should mention the Y Cross Ranch, we had gone to a branding there a few years ago and had a great time with everyone that worked there.

My kid who will be getting his masters degree this spring had come up with a great idea for the college to use the ranch better. One of the main problems is that they don't have anyone out there for the students to come out when "they" can to do their studies and research. My kid wanted to "create" a job for himself as a director of students and be there to oversee their work. He wanted to live out there so he would be available at anytime for the students. From what he had learned that students can only go out there when their professors or advisors could go, which I'm sure isn't often. Wyoming Unv. didn't think that they needed to create this kind of job at this time..Also my kid was thinking of his own studies to work on his PHD on his cattle research..Oh well,,it sounded like a great plan to me. I sure hate to see the Colleges let go of a gift like that, when the working ranch could be so helpful for education too...

Jassy, what kind of research is your son doing? I too am in grad school and finishing up my Ph.D. working on feed efficiency and RFI in cattle.


He is in the home stretch last semister of Reproductive Physiolgy , with emphasis on the stress level on transportating recently AI's heifers. I think! lol
 
Jassy said:
WVGenetics said:
Jassy said:
Funny you should mention the Y Cross Ranch, we had gone to a branding there a few years ago and had a great time with everyone that worked there.

My kid who will be getting his masters degree this spring had come up with a great idea for the college to use the ranch better. One of the main problems is that they don't have anyone out there for the students to come out when "they" can to do their studies and research. My kid wanted to "create" a job for himself as a director of students and be there to oversee their work. He wanted to live out there so he would be available at anytime for the students. From what he had learned that students can only go out there when their professors or advisors could go, which I'm sure isn't often. Wyoming Unv. didn't think that they needed to create this kind of job at this time..Also my kid was thinking of his own studies to work on his PHD on his cattle research..Oh well,,it sounded like a great plan to me. I sure hate to see the Colleges let go of a gift like that, when the working ranch could be so helpful for education too...

Jassy, what kind of research is your son doing? I too am in grad school and finishing up my Ph.D. working on feed efficiency and RFI in cattle.


He is in the home stretch last semister of Reproductive Physiolgy , with emphasis on the stress level on transportating recently AI's heifers. I think! lol

Sounds interesting! I'll have to keep an eye out for it getting published. I wish him luck, and I can tell him from experience the final closed door defense is a challenge but isn't as bad as everyone would like you to think as long as you have your ducks in a row!
 
CHEYENNE - The chairman of the Wyoming Legislature's Senate Appropriations Committee is advocating a deal in which the state would buy 11,000 acres from a client of his law firm.

Republican Sen. Phil Nicholas of Laramie is meanwhile keeping alive a proposal under which the client, Doug Samuelson, would acquire a 50,000-acre ranch between Laramie and Cheyenne. The Colorado State University Research Foundation and University of Wyoming Foundation jointly own the Y Cross Ranch.

Nicholas says Wyoming should buy 11,000 acres that Samuelson's Warren Livestock LLC, owns east of Laramie to establish a state park and protect the Laramie aquifer. Nicholas says he would not profit from the deal.

Samuelson's property near Laramie also has featured in a proposed buyout or land swap through which Samuelson would acquire the Y Cross.



Read more about this story in Thursday's Star-Tribune.



Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/nicholas-backs-state-land-purchase-from-law-client/article_15002bda-47a1-11e1-b56f-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1kVr651rq
 
CHEYENNE — The chairman of the Wyoming Legislature's Senate Appropriations Committee is advocating a deal in which the state would acquire 11,000 acres from an old friend and law client of his.

Republican Sen. Phil Nicholas of Laramie is meanwhile keeping alive a proposal under which the client, former state Rep. Doug Samuelson, would acquire a 50,000-acre ranch between Laramie and Cheyenne. The Colorado State University Research Foundation and University of Wyoming Foundation jointly own the Y Cross Ranch.

Denver philanthropist Amy Davis donated her family's ranch to the foundations in 1997 for the purpose of promoting agriculture education at the two schools. With the foundations moving toward selling the ranch perhaps later this year, Davis recently expressed regret about donating the Y Cross, which has seen little use as an educational tool...

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-lawmaker-backs-state-land-acquisition-from-client/article_c810b763-df2f-572e-9874-481f80d3f464.html#ixzz1kZvEsGX5

He's certainly intent on getting this ranch, and I'm sure the university doesn't want to cross their super star donor. Rumor also has it the ranch's finances were moved to a bank Samuelson owns after he got off of the University's Ranch Foundation board... anyone else thinks this stinks? I'm really proud of my alma mater and state about now :roll: :mad: ...
 
The comments are really heating up :shock:

http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-lawmaker-backs-state-land-acquisition-from-client/article_c810b763-df2f-572e-9874-481f80d3f464.html?mode=comments
 

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