Treasure Mountain Ranch yet to file land exchange proposal
This spring, members of the Crystal River Caucus have heard presentations from Treasure Mountain Ranch (TMR), which owns 700 acres of land in and around the historic town of Crystal. TMR is looking to exchange much of its land with the White River National Forest and place near the rest of it under conservation. It’d proceed with “limited development” on the few remaining acres. An official proposal has not yet been submitted to the Forest Service.
TMR’s current land holdings are significant in the Crystal River Valley. The property includes three miles of access to the river, the historic Crystal Mill and sections of forest on Bear Mountain that have been recovering from mining use. TMR representatives hope to place all but five acres of the property under Forest Service stewardship and conservation trusts.
The Sopris Sun contacted TMR representative Stuart Gillespie to learn more about the potential proposal.
“TMR has spent more than five years exploring how to protect the vast majority of the property from development while maintaining a viable economic future,” Gillespie said. “Our plans have evolved significantly as we’ve listened to neighbors, conservation advocates, public agencies and others who care deeply about this place.”
Community input has helped inform TMR’s goal to preserve the historic townsite and most of the land area, while developing the remaining acres of the property.
“Our plan is to concentrate all future development within a five-acre building envelope outside the historic townsite and work with historic preservation specialists to permanently protect the Crystal Mill and ghost town,” Gillespie said. “Visitors would see no significant changes to the historic corridor — no new structures visible from the mill or ghost town and no meaningful increase in guest capacity.”
He continued, “Where we’ve landed — placing 99% of the
property into conservation easements, exchanging heavily used valley-floor lands with the White River National Forest and concentrating development within a small footprint — offers an opportunity to protect the landscape, preserve public access and create a financially sustainable future for
the property.”
TMR is suggesting “conservation through recreation, rather than deriving value from private homes spread across the landscape and closing of public access.”
Social media has fueled interest in the picturesque Crystal Mill, Gillespie said.
“More than 30,000 visitors now travel to Crystal each year, generating an estimated $8 million in annual economic activity.” However, he added, “The burden of managing that visitation — the traffic, trespassing and liability — falls almost entirely on TMR.”
The ranch hopes to transfer the Crystal Mill to a nonprofit dedicated to its long-term preservation, “expanding public access and ownership along the Crystal River and permanently conserving the landscape that makes Crystal so special,” Gillespie said. “Our conservation and development plans hinge on a successful land exchange.”
TMR is working to build support for a proposal.
“The Town of Marble recently submitted a formal letter of support to the White River National Forest, noting the exchange’s importance to the local economy, historic preservation and the long-term character of the Crystal River corridor,” Gillespie said. The ranch is within Gunnison County, so TMR is working to earn support from its Board of County Commissioners, in addition to the broader Crystal River community.
However, this coalition-building is at a very early stage. While TMR has made presentations to the Crystal River Caucus and other parts of the community, they have yet to submit a formal proposal to the Forest Service.
Forest Service Public Affairs Officer David Boyd told The Sopris Sun that “We are aware of a potential proposal but have not yet received one. If we do, we will review it and determine whether to consider it further and begin the process of evaluating the proposal in more detail.”
When the Forest Service receives a proposal, that would launch a community input process, Boyd said.
“Land exchanges with the USDA Forest Service follow a detailed process that includes opportunities for the public to comment and typically takes a number of years to complete,” he said. “A land exchange would occur only if the Forest Service determines it is in the public’s interest.”
In the meantime, TMR is proceeding with some development of the land it intends to keep, Gillespie said.
“Last year, we received entitlements to build four new cabins and a barn located outside the historic townsite and near several existing structures,” he said. “In exchange, we preserved six historic cabins in the ghost town and retired four of these structures from use. We expect to begin construction on the new buildings next summer.”
The long-term vision is a community-owned conservation ranch, according to Gillespie, made up of families who are passionate skiers and backcountry skiers. “Backcountry skiing has been central to our vision for the property since we started down this path in 2021,” he said. “We are not developing a ski area at TMR,” Gillespie added. “Any lands acquired by TMR through the exchange would be protected by conservation easements.”