When Wyoming entrepreneur Toby Kimzey and his family purchased the Y Cross Ranch, they acquired one big chunk of southeast Wyoming real estate—the contiguous ranch covers some 93 square miles.

“Large working ranches like these are becoming rare, and therein lies their real value,” says Ranch Marketing Associates LLC co-founding partner Ron Morris. “There was strong interest in the Y Cross as soon as we announced its availability. It was under contract within a week, which is not the way most sales occur. Historically, ranches take several months to sell, often a couple years.”

SCENIC PROPERTY: Live water and views like this help drive demand for Wyoming ranch lands, like the Riverbend Ranch near Laramie.

The Kimzeys paid just shy of the asking price of $25 million for 50,333 deeded acres, 10,449 U.S. Forest Service and State of Wyoming lease acres, 2,450 head of cattle, four homes, two cabins and numerous ranch buildings.

The Y Cross would have likely been put on the market for a much higher price, but all the deeded acres had been placed in a conservation easement with The Nature Conservancy, which prevents the ranch from being subdivided.

“Some people wouldn’t consider it for that reason. A conservation easement over an entire ranch can take away some of the exit strategy,” Morris says.

But such easements are appealing to others, including those wanting to preserve open spaces, protect wildlife habitat and maintain the ranching way of life.

With the sale came the Y Cross cattle herd (800 cow-calf pairs, 400 yearling steers, 400 bred heifers and 50 bulls) and territorial water rights from 10 creeks and other sources that provide irrigation for more than 2,000 acres of pasture and hay ground.

“University of Wyoming and Colorado State University had improved the herd’s genetics over time, developing an excellent set of cattle,” Morris says.

The Kimzey family purchased the Y Cross from UW and CSU, which were gifted the ranch in 1997 by the Courtenay Davis Foundation.

Sale proceeds were evenly split between the two schools, and each endowment is expected to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for student scholarships and internships, as well as programming in agriculture, natural resources, animal science and veterinary medicine.

Morris was the listing broker while Amy Smith of #1 Properties in Cheyenne, Wyo., represented the Kimzeys.

Another big gift

In an earlier transaction, UW sold its 6,700-acre Riverbend Ranch near Laramie, Wyo., to Molly and Reb Clark of Texas.

The ranch, which was previously gifted to UW by Tim Mellon of Riverside, Wyo., was listed for $8.5 million, or $1,269 per acre.

UW’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is using sale proceeds to help fund wildlife and livestock disease research.

The Riverbend is permanently protected by a conservation easement held by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Fay Ranches Inc. was the listing broker while Western United Realty LLC represented the Clarks.