A Land Exchange for Public Access, Conservation & the Future

Out of Bounds Ranch is working with the Bureau of Land Management and other local and state partners on a proposed land exchange designed to create a more connected landscape, improve meaningful public access, protect wildlife habitat, and preserve the ranching character of this part of Colorado for generations to come.

Under the proposal, approximately 2,091 acres of private land would become permanent public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. These lands would help provide practical access to approximately 8,900 acres of existing BLM land that today has limited public access, creating a larger and more connected area for hunting, hiking, wildlife habitat, recreation, and conservation.

In exchange, Out of Bounds Ranch would receive certain BLM lands located between the ranch’s existing holdings. Consolidating these lands would allow the ranch to manage the landscape more effectively for agriculture, wildlife, forest health, wildfire mitigation, watershed protection, and long-term stewardship.

Importantly, the lands received by the ranch would be protected by perpetual ranching-use deed restrictions designed to prevent future development and subdivision. The goal is not to create more developable private land. It is to preserve an intact working landscape while placing thousands of acres into permanent public ownership.

The proposal also creates an opportunity to improve public access beyond the lands involved in the exchange. If related federal legislation moves forward as contemplated, the ranch has offered land near County Road 115 for safer public parking associated with access to the Fischer Creek Trail, helping move vehicles away from the county road and creating a more practical gateway to surrounding public lands.

For Out of Bounds Ranch, this effort reflects a larger responsibility to the land.

Long before it was a ranch, this country was part of the homeland of the Ute people. Generations of ranchers followed, building an agricultural community around its water, grasslands, forests, and wildlife. Today, we believe stewardship means carrying that responsibility forward—keeping the land productive, protecting its natural character, and finding opportunities where private landowners and the public can both benefit.

The proposed exchange has received support from the Bureau of Land Management, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and the Garfield County Commissioners, reflecting the unusual opportunity to bring together agricultural, conservation, wildlife, recreation, and public-access interests around a common goal.

At its heart, the proposal is simple: put significant private acreage into permanent public ownership, improve access to existing public lands, keep the remaining ranch landscape intact and undeveloped, and leave this corner of Colorado better connected and better protected than we found it.

We believe that is a win for the ranch, a win for wildlife, and most importantly, a win for the public.

Why the Proposed Land Exchange Benefits the Community and Out of Bounds Ranch

The proposed land exchange is intended to create a better arrangement for both the surrounding community and Out of Bounds Ranch.

Today, the ownership pattern in this area is fragmented. Out of Bounds Ranch consists of separate upper and lower properties, with Bureau of Land Management land lying between and around portions of the ranch. OBR has leased and grazed cattle on much of this BLM land for decades, and it functions naturally as part of the ranching landscape even though it remains under separate federal ownership. This parcel of BLM land is primarily surrounded by private lands with access from CR115 or from the National Forest from the North.

The proposed exchange would consolidate those lands with the ranch while transferring approximately 2,091 acres of privately owned land into permanent public ownership.

For the local community, that is an important trade.

The private lands being offered to the public would provide access to and improve the usefulness of approximately 8,900 acres of existing BLM land that currently has very limited public access. Instead of isolated or difficult-to-reach public parcels, the exchange would help create a larger, more connected public landscape available for recreation, hunting, hiking, wildlife habitat and conservation.

That means the public receives more than acreage on a map. It receives land that makes other public land more usable.

The exchange also improves the overall pattern of ownership. Fewer irregular boundaries can mean less accidental trespass, clearer expectations for hunters and recreationists, and more logical areas for both public and private land managers to maintain.

A Better Fit for the Ranch

For Out of Bounds Ranch, acquiring the BLM property shown on the map would connect the ranch’s upper and lower holdings into a more contiguous working landscape.

That matters for everyday ranch operations, but it also matters for long-term stewardship.

Managing cattle, fences, roads, water, weeds, forests and wildfire risk becomes considerably more difficult when ownership is fragmented. A connected ranch allows OBR to manage the land as a single landscape rather than as separate pieces divided by jurisdictional boundaries.

The land acquired by OBR would also be subject to a perpetual ranching-use deed restriction intended to prevent future development and subdivision.

That protection is an essential part of the proposal.

The purpose of the exchange is not to acquire federal land for future development. It is to preserve the land as part of a working ranch and keep this portion of Missouri Heights open, agricultural and undeveloped.

Protecting What Makes This Area Special

The benefits extend beyond ranch operations and public recreation.

Wildlife does not recognize property lines. Elk, deer and other species move across private land, BLM land and National Forest according to seasons, forage, water and habitat. More coherent land ownership can allow both OBR and public agencies to manage habitat, vegetation and migration areas more effectively.

The same is true of wildfire.

Forest health, fuels reduction and emergency access are landscape-scale issues. A fragmented checkerboard of ownership can make that work more complicated. Consolidating the ranch allows OBR to continue investing in wildfire mitigation, vegetation management and responsible land stewardship across a larger continuous area, while the public lands received through the exchange can be managed as part of a more useful public landscape.

A Community Benefit, Not Simply a Property Transaction

From OBR’s perspective, a successful exchange should accomplish something greater than changing the names on deeds.

It should leave the community with more meaningful public access, protect important open space, support wildlife and conservation, preserve agricultural use and create a landscape that can be managed more responsibly for generations.

At the same time, it allows Out of Bounds Ranch to remain what it has historically been: a working Western cattle ranch.

The result is a more logical boundary for the ranch, a more useful collection of land for the public, and long-term protection against development on the lands OBR would receive.

The community gains public land and access. The ranch gains continuity and the ability to manage its land responsibly. And both benefit from preserving the open, undeveloped character of this part of Colorado.

That is the purpose of the proposed land exchange.