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Foreword h . h d cI Am" d . . 'fy' .. rId S 't. ... As t e (Wenner century raws"Wa ose, enca 15 engage In an Intensl mg competlnon ror an . rrugg mg CInes compete with mushrooming suburbs; the suburbs compere wiih open space, farms and forests; agriculture and forestry compete with wildlife habitat and the last remaining places of solitude. The country's population continues ro grow. Auromobiles, computers and other technologies enable us ro sptead OUt across the land, altering it as never before. Meanwhile, recoiling from this "progress," many Americans incteasingly resist changes in the use of land in order to protect their environment or the way of life they have come ro enjoy. . j .' ~ The controversy sutrounding canle gtazing on public lands, in the Rocky Mountain region and elsewhere, is familiar to anyone who fOllows natural resource issues. Ranchers onen complain abour government's heavy-handed regulation of public grazing lands, arguing that it curs their herd size and their profitability. Environmentalists, for their part, argue that ranchers graze roo many cattle on public lands, threatening wildlife and the land's overall productivity, degrading riparian habitat and the rivers and streams of the region. Commercial ranching today is competing with something far more formidable than grazing regulations- "recreational ranching" and second home development. . Whatever the merits of these arguments, commercial ranching today is competing with something far more formidable than grazing regulations. .A...'"nerlca..'1s' pendla.n.t for outdoor ;:I.ctiviri~!" of ::111 sorts is resulting in substantial "recreational ranching"-raising livesrock for the lifestyle rather than a living- and second home development, especially in those places that both showcase the region's spectacular landscapes and offer ready access, by highway Ot airport. The Rocky Mountain region, moreover, is wimessing explosive population growth. Lured by an idyllic setring and abundant recreational opportunities, aHluent newcomers ro Colorado and other parts of the region are buying so-called "ranchettes," 35 acres or so carved out from larger parcels by ranchers and farmers willing ro sell at prices that dwarf the land's agricultural value. As a consequence, the region'S. traditional ranching way of life is losing ground and may be headed for "the last roundup." I \ ~ , i It is not jUst the future of the region's ranching community that hangs in the balance as this transformation occurs. The proliferation of rural estates makes management of open range for wildlife, for water resources, as well as for ranching, near impossible. Some of the most scenic and productive agricultural lands are dramatically altered by ski resorrs and the lucrative condominium complexes and other real estate development that accompanies them. American Farmland Trust (AFT) is concerned abour the decline of ranching in rhe region and the impacrs of what has all roo onen become the alternative: sprawling recreational and second home development and the parcelization of rural lands into tracts [00 S!TIall to remain viable for ranching or natural resource management. In this region and across the councry the broader competition for land is adversely affecting the n~tion's ~riculturalland base. Why is it happening? What can and should be done to curb the kind of rural ranchette sprawl that threatens commercial carrIe raising in the Rockies? To find answers, AFT has sponsored a series of research projects to investigare the competition for land in America, especiallyhow the choices being made by private landowners-affecting agricultural lands, cities and the environmenr- are being influenced by the policy decisions of government. This report, the third in a series, focuses on the competition between wotking ranches and development of ranchettes and recreational facilities on the private mountain meadows that have supplied essential cattle forage for generations. It summarizes a more detailed technical research paper ptepared at our tequest by twO tesource economists at Colorado State University. To obtain a copy of the technical pap.r Ot learn more about the Competition for Land project, we invite you to visit AFT's Web site at www.Earmland.org. Edward Thompson, Jr. American Farmland Trust Senior Vice President for Public Policy .