By Ron Sering
Area rancher Joe Cogan does not mince words about commercial land development. “I don’t think much of subdividers. They come up to you, shake your hand, and then try to get in your pocket.”
Since 1889, the Cogan family steadily built their area holdings through a combination of leases and purchase, to hundreds of acres. “I had three boys, but two of them decided to do something else for a living.” Cogan soon found himself with more land than he could work. “I divested myself of several leases,” Cogan said. “We kept the land we worked down to a minimum.”