TSLN: Letting go — Universities betray donor’s intent — So why are we sending our kids to these places to learn about agriculture?
The Y Cross Ranch, donated to the UW and CSU Foundations in 1997 recently sold, say the two universities. Some faculty look forward to added funding for scholarships but others lament the loss of a unique 60,000 acre teaching facility. Photo courtesy RMA brokers
The Y Cross Ranch, donated to the UW and CSU Foundations in 1997 recently sold, say the two universities. Some faculty look forward to added funding for scholarships but others lament the loss of a unique 60,000 acre teaching facility. Photo courtesy RMA brokers
To many, a 60,000-acre ranch located just outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming would be a dream come true.
But to some people affiliated with the University of Wyoming and its foundation, as well as Colorado State University and its foundation, that very item, in the form of a gift, had become a challenge.
After jointly owning the Y Cross Ranch since 1997, the two foundations decided together to sell the property and set the proceeds aside to create endowments to support agriculture scholarships and internships.
While a number of UW faculty are excited about the funding that will be made available for student support, there are those in the cowboy state including a former governor who think the whole deal stinks.
Amy Davis donated the sprawling ranch located between Cheyenne and the university town of Laramie to the university foundations for research and education, not purely for its profit-making potential, former Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer said in an online comment format.
“In 18 years of operation, through June 30, 2015, the total net income of the ranch was a little more than $235,000 — to emphasize, that is the total net income for 18 years. … There was never enough money available to start and maintain academic programs on the ranch and it was not because the universities did not try.” Frank Mendicino, former Wyoming attorney general
“If the two universities could have been more effective with the money than the ranch, the donor would have sold the ranch herself, at a much better price, and given the cash directly to the universities. She saw higher value in what the ranch and its operations could pass along to students for many generations. Instead, the boards of trustees envisioned a bank account without a soul. Neither university should be run as a profit center. Rather, they should endow the passing of the heritage and values of what makes our two states unique. For us I say. Wyoming is what America was – and what America ought to be. So – trustees: you violated your very title. Trust is never taken. Only you can give it away. And you did. In biblical terms, you sold it for a mess of pottage,” said Geringer, who served from 1995 to 2003.
Former Wyoming Attorney General, Frank Mendicino, a member of the foundation, responded online to Geringer, explaining that the ranch did not generate enough net revenue to develop academic programs. “In 18 years of operation, through June 30, 2015, the total net income of the ranch was a little more than $235,000 – to emphasize, that is the total net income for 18 years. And if cattle prices had not gone through the roof since 2011, there would have been a huge net loss from operations during those 18 years. There was never enough money available to start and maintain academic programs on the ranch and it was not because the universities did not try.”
Mendicino goes on to tell that the UW and CSU ag college deans, both of whom serve on the ranch management committee and are “intimately familiar” with the ranch operation, determined that there would “never be enough net operating income to provide the desired academic programs on the ranch. They also concluded they could provide significant academic opportunities for their agriculture students with the revenue that would come from endowments established with the proceeds from the sale of the ranch.”
Davis herself sued the two university foundations in 2012 when they first announced their intent to sell. The Wyoming Supreme Court dismissed the case, finding she had no standing to sue.
President of UW’s foundation, Ben Blalock, said the relationship with CSU’s foundation the past 18 years has been “a great partnership.”
While the foundation managed the property from a financial standpoint, direct oversight of the ranch was provided by a management committee and the ranch manager.
Running a ranch of that magnitude is a tremendous responsibility, and is expensive, Blalock said. “Keep in mind that this is a ranch that almost tripled in value from the time that we took ownership to the time it was sold.” He added that it was well-managed and that the foundations wanted to ensure that sufficient funds were returned to the ranch for management, leaving relatively little funding for university uses.
Associate Dean for Research and Director of Ag Experiment Stations, at UW, Bret Hess, said that in the time the ranch was under foundation ownership, it was used by the faculty and students “on a very limited basis.” The opportunities to conduct applied research projects were few and far between, he said, in part because the normal operations of the ranch were not to be disturbed for such projects.
A few studies he recalls being done included calf implant studies, AI research and possibly some assistance was provided by faculty for a prescribed burn.
Dr. Paul Ludden, former UW intern coordinator, said he probably worked with three to four interns over the years who spent summers at the Y Cross. The internship involved ranch work tailored to the students’ knowledge, he said. “The ranch manager, Manny Monseratte, was flexible, they would carry out different duties based on their experience.”
The Dean of UW’s college of Agriculture and Natural Resources Frank Galey said on average, income from the Y Cross provided funding for one to two scholarships per year valued at $1,000 or more apiece. With the endowment to be established following the ranch’s sale, he expects between $350,000 and $450,000 to be made available for scholarships, internships and other student activities annually.
But a professor in the UW veterinary science department said the donation of the ranch was about more than just its income-generating potential. “The late Amy Davis made the donation with a very clear understanding in her agreement as to what it would be used for. I’ve been here 25 years and I never even saw the ranch until 2012. I didn’t even know where it was.”
Davis’s vision of the ranch under the foundations’ ownership included ranch and livestock education, wildlife studies, geology instruction and more, Donal O’Toole said. He had a copy of the donation agreement for a time.
O’Toole said he recently requested a copy of the donation agreement, but hasn’t received it. “Why do we have all these secrets? It was made about teaching and I’m a teacher. It was meant to be used. Everyone has been stonewalled on getting the statement, agreement, buyers’ agreement and other documents.”
Very little university research was carried out on the ranch because contact information was not made available, O’Toole said. At one point, he jumped through the hoops to find the contact information in order to provide a student from Los Angeles with a real ranch experience. “I was blown away. It was a fantastic resource. The cattle were beautiful,” he said, of the place that was about a 45 minute drive from the university.
“The reason we have these fabulous landscapes in our state is because of ranching and if these ranches increasingly become trophies, it compromises the success of the entire cattle industry,” O’Toole said.
The purchaser of the ranch has not been made public, nor has the purchase price, he said, but the realtor’s asking price was $25 milllion and the UW news release said proceeds in excess of $10 million – one-half will go to the CSU Foundation – will generate approximately $400,000 annually for academic programs.
But O’Toole thinks there should have been room for profit and teaching opportunities without selling the ranch. “If two land grant universities received a ranch with 60,000 acres and 800 head of mother cows and they can’t make a profit – what is the problem with the university?”
But many on UW’s staff are excited about the opportunity to fund significantly more scholarhips and other programs. “The benefits to the students will be much greater,” said Hess, explaining that he figures the magnitude of benefit to students will be about 10 times more with the endowment proceeds.
According to Hess, UW has four teaching ranches. The Laramie ranch is about 4,500 acres with a summer range of about 5,500 acres and about 250 head of mother cows. The James C. Hageman Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center near Lingle is about 4,500 acres and maintains a base herd of about 30 head of cows. The teaching centers near Powell and Sheridan do not have livestock