Article by Marcia Darnell
Open Space – October 1999 – Colorado Central Magazine
YOU KNOW that overcrowding has reached insane levels when the San Luis Valley starts a land conservation program. Yep, the place with the Massachusetts-sized area and sparse population is feeling the impact of too many new neighbors.
In addition, many ranchers (already an aging population) are going to that Big Roundup in the Sky, leaving their children with an enormous tax bill. Often, the heirs have to sell the ranch, or part of it, just to pay the inheritance tax on the ranch.