This fall Y Cross ranch could be sold, in a move that frustrates students, donors and the Wyoming community.
The 50,000-acre ranch sits in the heart of southeast Wyoming spanning 78 square miles between Laramie and Cheyenne.
A Denver philanthropist, Amy Davis, donated Y Cross ranch, cattle and machinery to CSU and UW in 1997 to aid agricultural programs.
Davis told the Associated Press, “I don’t think they’ve taken advantage in the last 14 years of what this ranch opportunity should have given to the students.”
“CSU professors didn’t know the ranch was available [for internships],” CSU summer ranch intern Ben Wurz said.
UW student, Drake Jorns, only knew about the internships when he looked up the ranch online.
“The ranch is intended to be a model of a working cattle ranch and to provide opportunities for students,” ranch caretaker Manny Monserrate said.
“Most students in the department now do not come from an agricultural background and are not familiar with agriculture in general. Internships on the Y Cross provide the much needed understanding of agricultural and the livestock industry from the ground up,” said Annette Monserrate in a letter to UW President Tom Buchanan.
“You can’t learn [ranching] in a classroom,” Jorns said.
“I’ve been ranching for almost 40 years and am still learning,” Manny Monserrate said. “We are here to teach the next generation how to work.”
To date, the ranch has had 25 interns and employees from both universities studying geology, range and wildlife management, and equine studies. The ranch also provides student scholarships.
“For the state of Wyoming to support the sale of a beneficial educational gift to the students of Wyoming and Colorado appears unethical and endangers the university’s Land Grant Mission,” said Annette Monserrate in a letter to the state legislator. “Neighbors and the ranching community are aware of the facts surrounding the issue and are watching to see if the education of future leaders and the ethics of our political system are upheld.”
UW dean of the College of Agriculture, Francis Galey, told the AP, “It’s a very, very efficient and lean working operation. So the way it was set up staffing-wise, there just wasn’t a way to accommodate the teaching we wanted to do.”
In 2009, negotiations began for CSU to buy out UW’s portion of the ranch. The Davis Foundation agreed to help CSU purchase UW’s half of the ranch, but negations fell through as UW refused to be bought out.
The two schools attempted to trade Y Cross with land east of Laramie last year but decided that the land swap would not follow the intent of the gift.
In early June the presidents of CSU and UW met in La Jolla, Calif. to announce that they are moving forward with the sale of the ranch.
The ranch will be sold under a sealed bid method and could be sold early fall. Davis told the AP she estimates the ranch could be worth between $20 and $30 million.
The profits from the sale will be used to fund agricultural scholarships and internships at both schools.
Taylor Haynes, a Cheyenne area rancher told the AP, “Basically it’s a great teaching tool and it’s just too bad it would be gone.”
