Over the course of my multi -faceted ranch and real-estate career I have been called many things, some of which cannot be printed here. Predominantly, however, Rancher and Developer are the two most oft employed descriptions. No doubt, earlier in my career, twenties, and thirties when I left the ranch, I was a developer. But since the eighties, I have been a rancher. On the cutting edge, to be sure, but a rancher.

Development is one of those words that means different things to different folks. In the strictest sense, if you have a ranch consisting of several thousand acres, cut a driveway into it and construct your home you have developed the property. But what of a 10,000 acre fully restored working ranch with just eight home sites, each set on 100 acres and surrounded by conservation easements limiting future expansion? Is this a development or a ranch with some houses?

There are those great ranches which because of time, location, and macro/micro demographic and economic pressures whisper, to the attentive observer, that they no longer wish or should be a working ranch in the truest sense. That whisper came through loud and clear in the first few moments of my tour of a ranch in Debeque, Colorado. 8,000 acres, plus or minus, of surface, spectacular vistas, incredible canyon lands with juniper studded buttes running to the Grand Mesa combined with lush bottom irrigated fields makes up Canyons at the Debeque Ranch along with her sister ranch Bluestone Ridge.

Located at the epicenter of the energy exploration and production frenzy gripping Colorado’s western slope, there was no question its destiny was a careful mix of ranch and development. The question was, however, how to blend the old and the new, preserve the historic ranch lands and structures, and protect large acreages of enhanced ranch land? Further, how to do all of the aforementioned and still generate a land use plan providing for an end product and overall concept that is affordable for the average family, profitable on a level commensurate with the risk of the undertaking and still highly sensitive to the land, agriculture and resource features? In other words, how do you develop such a startlingly beautiful piece of ground and avoid "starter mansions" placed row upon row and other even more distasteful intrusions on the folds of the land?. It takes effort, planning, knowledge of riparian areas, wildlife habitat and movement, and conservation laws. Careful creation and attention to detail is the prerequisite to blending beautiful ranch and realistic living environs surrounded by gorgeous vistas, ranch ambiance, and real, significant open space in a world that is rapidly losing legroom. This all takes extra effort and planning on the part of the developer, or should I say rancher? Or should I say, in this case, rancher/developer. It is more difficult wearing two hats, but in certain cases, it is ultimately the right answer.