The Ranch Post

While oil and gas exploration continues to expand across the rural west many communities are growing concerned as they look how the “energy boom” has left towns like Pinedale, WY “mired in inequities.” Energy companies generate “hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to state and county governments”, but this “wealth also brings heavy traffic, housing shortages, inflation, noise and higher crime.” As communities struggle to create an infrastructure capable of accommodating the arrival of large scale oil and gas activity there are valuable lessons to be learned from towns like Pinedale. Click here to read the full article.

The Washington Post is reporting today that the U.S. Forest Service may be moved from the Depart of Agriculture’s jurisdiction to that of the Department of the Interior.

The National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management are already managed by the Interior Department, and proponents of the transition say that moving the Forest Service makes sense because these other agencies are essentially “bureaucratic cousins.”

Those against say the move “might send a symbolic message that national forests are to be preserved and enjoyed, not harvested and developed…which could be perceived as a threat to the timber industry.”

Read the article in its entirety at The Washington Post website.

Yellowstone Lake (in the famed park of the same name), has had decling native trout levels for the last decade.

“The East Yellowstone Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Cody is spearheading an effort with Yellowstone National Park and the U.S. Geological Survey to raise $169,000 to fund a research project that could help save Yellowstone Lake’s native cutthroat trout. The four-year research project would be conducted by scientists from Montana State University and the USGS who would try to find ways to eradicate unwanted lake trout by targeting their eggs and spawning beds with a variety of lethal methods, including electroshocking, ultrasound, microwaves, biodegradable polymers and fish-killing toxicants.”

For more information, read the article in the Casper Star-Tribune.

You may have noticed his photographs on our website. And many know him for his books Colorado 1870-2000 and Colorado Then & Now, where he compared his current Colorado photography to photos taken by William Henry Jackson in the nineteenth century. (If you’ve been in a bookstore in Colorado anytime over the past 10 years, you know the books.)

According to the Denver Post, now famed landscape photographer, John Fielder, is working on a new book that will feature 50 “multigenerational, centennial-quality ranches” in Colorado, “about two-thirds of which have conservation easements on them.” His work will show the success and importance of the tax credit “program for preserving Colorado’s ranching heritage.”

“A percentage of sales will go to the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts, Colorado Open Lands and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust.”

For more information, read the article.

Check out the latest news on the state of conservation easements in Colorado:

• “Bill pays to monitor tax credits,” Denver Post, 3/20/08
• “Panel backs land-conservation overhaul,” Rocky Mountain News, 3/20/08
• “Fees to benefit easement regulation,” Denver Post, 3/12/08
• “House panel hears easement testimony,” Denver Post, 3/12/08
• “Lawmakers consider fees to oversee easements program,” Rocky Mountain News, 3/11/08
• “Lawmakers promise to crack down on conservation easements,” Summit Daily News, 3/11/08
• “Legislators tighten up easement tax credit,” Cherry Creek News, 3/11/08
• “Maintaining conservation system is critical for Colorado’s future,” Grand Junction Sentinel, 3/7/08

One of the little-known marketing tactics that Mirr Ranch Group utilizes is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is the practice of improving website traffic from search engines via non-paid search results for targeted keywords. We can accomplish this through strategic content and coding on our website, as well as campaigning for other highly-ranked websites to link to our website. It’s a long process, but mandatory in today’s electronic age.

Content and Coding
MRG is frequently updating our content and coding to show search engines like Google that our site is relevant and worth ranking well. Google crawls every website on the web constantly looking for relevant information for all search language, and also confirming that they are directing users to a quality website. Obviously, the more information it can gather about us, the easier it can classify and rank us for specific search terms.

Links
Basically, it’s like high school all over again. If someone links to our site, it’s like they’re voting for MRG for class president (or in our case, #1 in Google for specific search terms). While it’s a popularity contest, sure, they wouldn’t do it unless they felt our content was beneficial, and our platform, well, was relevant. Also, the vote from the most popular kid in school or the class valedictorian has more clout than say, the class clown or new kid in town. The same holds true for websites. A link from the Wall Street Journal does more for our website ranking than a website that was just started by a new company.

Now, the important thing to know is that you can’t become #1 in Google or Yahoo overnight. This takes years and a lot of work. Mirr Ranch Group is committed to this process though, and continuously improves in our rankings.

Also, we’ve done an excellent job in aiming for targeted words. This decreases bounce traffic from our website. (For example, if a web user was to type in the search term “ranches,” they may not be looking for a ranch brokerage firm. They may be looking for ranching equipment or a dude ranch for spring break. If Mirr Ranch Group was #1 for this term, many people would visit our site, determine in a matter of seconds that it’s not what they’re looking for, and return to the search engine.) On the other hand, Mirr Ranch Group has a very low bounce rate. In fact, the average visitor spends around 5 minutes on our website! That is unheard of in our industry.

In the end, MRG aims to send qualified and relevant traffic to our website over quantity, a goal that differs from our competitors. If you’re looking for a ranch broker, ask yourself this question: what’s the point of sending a farmer who is only looking for a tractor to look at your ranch for sale online, when MRG can deliver the serious, qualified buyer who is specifically looking to purchase a ranch or sporting property, cash in-hand?

To find out more about SEO and Search Engine Marketing (SEM), another tactic that Mirr Ranch Group employs, check out this recent article in Advertising Age. (Ad Age is to marketers/advertisers as Wall Street Journal is to investors.)

By Mallory Boyce, Marketing Manager for Mirr Ranch Group

Outdoor Life magazine has put together a list of the top 200 towns for fishing and hunting in America. Of note near the top of the list:

• Sheridan, Wyom. is #3;

• Cody, Wyom. is #4;
• Fort Collins, Colo. is #14;
• Rifle, Colo. is #17;
• Casper, Wyom. is #21;
• and Durango, Colo. is #28.

Many towns in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho, the Dakotas and Montana are ranked as well as many other towns in Wyoming and Colorado. Each town is rated on a scale of 1-10 for number of huntable species, number of fishable species, trophy potential, year-round opportunities, public land access and gun laws.

Also, the Denver Post is reporting some changes in fishing regulations for Colorado this year.

The latest issue of National Geographic Adventure Magazine highlights “The Best of the Southwest.”

When you review the magazine, be sure to check out the following articles:

• “Wild Heart of the West: The Four-Corners Region” - Talks about “the sweetest” recreational spots near the area where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah meet.
• “Your Kind of Town: Durango, Colorado” - Explains how the southwest Colorado town is “for multisport adventurers”
• “Waldo Wilcox: Range Creek’s Fremont Artifacts” - Feature story on Waldo, a rancher and mountain-lion trapper in Tavaputs Plateau in Utah

Photo: Florida Mesa Ranch, a ranch for sale in Durango, Colorado.

In 2007, the state of New Mexico passed new legislation that expanded the state tax credit already allowed under the New Mexico Land Conservation Incentives Act for conservation easements. The new law, called HB990 – Real Property Transfers Tax Credit, is very similar to Colorado’s popular conservation tax credit program, allowing New Mexico landowners to get cash back for protecting their properties with a conservation easement.

Other highlights of the bill include:

• Tax credit will continue to be for 50% of the value of the donation
• HB990 increases maximum credit from $100,000 to $250,000
• The credit is now transferable, making conservation easements a more viable option for farmers and ranchers

For more information, contact these institutions:

• New Mexico Land Conservancy
• Taos Land Trust
• Quivira Coalition

Or view the bill on the New Mexico Legislature website.

Source: New Mexico Land Conservancy

Photo: Rancho Cañada, a ranch for sale in Guadalupita, NM.

Of interest, a New York Times article published this morning, entitled “Recreation fees rising in wake of forest fires’ costs,” discusses the increase in recreation fees charged by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in the western US since 2004.

“Federal officials say the fees are unavoidable because Congress has not increased financing for the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management even as the cost of fighting fires on public lands has consumed more of their budgets.”

Those opposed argue that public land is already supported by federal income taxes, and that recreationists are being charged to essentially take “a walk in the woods.”

In light of the debate, legislation is currently being considered to eliminate the fees. Read the article for more info.

(To Coloradoans: the highway up to Mt. Evans is specifically mentioned in the article.)

Be sure to let us know what you think and leave a comment.