Sopris Sun THE
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 16 • MAY 28, 2009
‘Trade Ya’ Concerns aired over proposed land swap By Jeremy Heiman
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Main photo: the original Sutey homestead cabin. Inset photo: Looking south and east from the western parcel of Leslie Wexner's Two Shoes Ranch. The pointed hill on the middle of the green ridge is a point on the western boundary of the BLM parcel that Wexner would like to acquire. Photos by Jeremy Heiman
long Garfield County Road 112 north of Carbondale, the name “Sutey” is still visible on an old mailbox in spite of the peeling paint. It marks the driveway to a former potato farm and cattle ranch that is at the center of a proposed land trade involving the Bureau of Land Management and billionaire Leslie Wexner. Wexner owns the Sutey Ranch, located on the back side of Red Hill north of Carbondale. He also owns a working cattle ranch, the Two Shoes Ranch, on the north slope of Mt. Sopris, to the south of town. The Two Shoes spread consists of two parcels that are separated by a half-mile wide strip of BLM land. Wexner purchased the 513-acre Sutey Ranch for $6.5 million in the hope that the BLM would take it in trade for the 1,268-acre parcel that splits Two Shoes. Wexner, who amassed his fortune through ownership of numerous retail chains such as The Limited, has promised to place a conservation easement preventing development on the parcel that would consolidate his ranch, should it come into his possession. Andy Wiessner of Western Land Group, Inc., a consulting group that specializes in land exchanges and is representing Wexner, has said up to 300 houses could be constructed on the land if it became privately owned without the conservation easement. Wiessner also pointed out that public access to the BLM parcel is limited. It is bounded by private property on all sides except the narrow southern end, high on the slopes of Mt. Sopris, where it abuts the White River National Forest. There is, however, no indication that the BLM intends to sell the property if the swap doesn’t go through. The parcel is not on the agency’s “disposal list,” said BLM field manager Steve Bennett. The land swap was first proposed by Wexner’s representatives. Wexner’s ranch, with 700 head of cattle, currently holds grazing leases on much of the BLM land in question. Those leases predate the retail magPITKIN COUNTY page 3