Subscribe to Outdoor Life
Get 1 Year for Only $10
Record Quest Blog Posts
Categories
Recent CommentsArchivesRecord Quest |
July 18, 2011
Development vs Conservation: How Much is Elk Habitat Worth? - 5
In a time when billionaires get tax breaks and NFL team owners complain that their profits are too small, it can seem like there's no such thing as enough money. But, here's a story from South Dakota about a rich guy doing the right thing. Let it serve as a little ray of hope. Bill Whitlow, a wealthy 63-year-old from Virginia, was ready to sell 2,400 acres of prime elk habitat in the Black Hills. Whitlow was sitting on a goldmine. Suburban sprawl was creeping in around him, and he could easily dump the ranch to developers for about $14 million. But, he ended up selling the land to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for about half as much. So, instead of being chopped up and developed, the property will be added to the Black Hills National Forest and preserved as wilderness. Why didn't Whitlow take the money? "I just did not want to see it broken up," he said. "It did so much for me that I could not stand to see it developed … I felt like I did owe the land something." Whitlow and his wife bought the ranch, which was trashed at the time, in 1992 as a financial investment. Whitlow planned on rehabilitating it, attracting elk and then selling. He knew the property would be worth more if it held elk, so they picked up scrap metal, hauled rocks and mowed the prairie grasses, which soon grew back in full force. In the early 90s it was tough to find even an elk track on the ranch, now an estimated 400 wapiti frequent the area. Whitlow is a hunter and took some nice bulls off of the ranch. He also let neighbors and even strangers hunt there, but he had one rule: they had to leave their trucks at the gate. "You'd be surprised how many people that deterred," he said. Over the years, the ranch became much more than just an investment for the Whitlows. So last year, when Bill felt like he could no longer take care of the property, he turned to the RMEF, which had been a part of the rehabilitation process from the beginning. The vast majority of the ranch will now be open to the public for recreational use, including hunting, and Whitlow will be able to comeback and visit any time he wants. Now only if we could get Wall Street and the NFL to follow Whitlow's example. |
Outdoorlife.com is part of the Field & Stream Network, a division of Bonnier Corporation.
Copyright © 2012 Bonnier Corp. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Comments (5)
We need more multi millionaires and billionaires who say to themselves, I have enough money, and do something for the public at large or for their employees in terms of higher wages.
This should set an example for hunters all over the world that good people are still around and not slaves to the $$$$. Hats off to this sportsman.
I live East River in South Dakota and whenever I drive out to go Antelope hunting you see the hills scattered with Elk. This will really help the population. Good people do live in SD :)
Thats great to hear. I wish I had the money to buy old run down non running ranchs and turn them into something like that.
I wish Ted Turner would do this instead of buying every ranch around here than just shutting them down and sitting on them so he can come up here twice a year and look at them! actually same goes for David Letterman, he's not quite as bad, but he's getting there.
It's nice to hear about someone not being entirely motivated by the almighty dollar.
Post a Comment (200 characters or less)
It's nice to hear about someone not being entirely motivated by the almighty dollar.
Thats great to hear. I wish I had the money to buy old run down non running ranchs and turn them into something like that.
I wish Ted Turner would do this instead of buying every ranch around here than just shutting them down and sitting on them so he can come up here twice a year and look at them! actually same goes for David Letterman, he's not quite as bad, but he's getting there.
I live East River in South Dakota and whenever I drive out to go Antelope hunting you see the hills scattered with Elk. This will really help the population. Good people do live in SD :)
This should set an example for hunters all over the world that good people are still around and not slaves to the $$$$. Hats off to this sportsman.
We need more multi millionaires and billionaires who say to themselves, I have enough money, and do something for the public at large or for their employees in terms of higher wages.
Post a Comment (200 characters or less)