Chico Basin Ranch, an 87,000-acre ranch off Peyton Highway near Hanover, is combining ecological conservation with a celebration of Colorado’s ranching heritage. The ranch is open to visitors, and hosts many events and educational opportunities throughout the year.The ranch is owned by the Colorado State Land Board and leased to Ranchlands, a Colorado based ranch management company. ìWe have a 25-year lease that started in November 1999,î said Tess Leach, hospitality and business development manager for Ranchlands. ìOne of our priorities is making the ranch open and accessible to the public. It’s an open door policy where anyone can check in at headquarters, pay a daily $15 fee and have access to the ranch for hiking, biking and bird watching.îElementary through college age, as well as adult ranching professionals, come to Chico Basin to learn about ranching and land stewardship. ìWe see over 2,000 kids a year through our programs focused on ranching, ecology and conservation,î Leach said. ìThe cornerstone of our conservation education is the (bird) banding program.îThe ranch’s habitat with creeks, ponds and other features provides a stopping point for many species of migratory birds. The Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory partnered with the ranch to maintain a bird banding station, where volunteers can help the experts catch, identify and release birds so scientists can continue monitoring migratory patterns and bird health. ìGroups start there where they monitor migration, then do ecology walks through the surrounding groves of trees, and then go on to learn about our ranching and conservation work,î Leach said.Fundamentally, Chico Basin is a working cattle ranch. ìWe manage for absentee owners like the Land Board, Nature Conservancy and other absentee owners to run their ranches for long term ñ- 25 years is a typical arrangement,î Leach Said. ìThe property’s core is that it must be a working ranch, and other businesses are subsidiary to sustain the business in time of drought or if the cattle business is down.îBeef from the cattle is sold through local distributors and supplies the needs of the ranch’s guests and programs. ìWe supply Lasater Grasslands Beef, and then a handful of animals will go direct to consumers for meat,î Leach said.While visitors will see plenty of classic cowboy hats and people on horses working the cattle, Ranchlands and Chico Basin are using managed intensive rotational grazing and other newer methods to protect and grow the natural ecology. ìThe way we run our cattle has conservation at its core,î Leach said. ìWe practice holistic management, and we run all our cattle in one big herd across the land to emulate the historic migration of bison and other herds across the West: high impact for a short amount of time followed by a huge amount of rest.îAgritourism is another side business for the ranch. Six-night ranch vacations are available where the guests live, eat and work on the ranch. ìGuests come from around the world to do day-to-day work on the ranch; they go riding and help the crew,î Leach said. ìIt truly is a working ranch experience. In order for ranching to be sustainable, people need to know what it is, and the best way is to experience it first hand.îChico Basin Ranch allows walk-on visitors for its hiking, biking and bird watching opportunities for a $15 per person per day fee. The ranch is located at 22500 Peyton Highway South, about 20 miles south of Highway 94. Their calendar of events, including their popular Summer Concert fundraiser, is online at http://chicobasinranch.com.
