Hated to see it go. It was an opportunity for a fair number of people to hunt a ranch that they never could have hunted otherwise. I did the first management plan for RMEF when Bob Torstenson donated the easement, and continued to help with their grazing management for a few years after he died and the ranch went to RMEF. When RMEF acquired the ranch, the conservation easement was transferred to the Mule Deer Foundation and I assume that MDF still has it.
I will agree that RMEF didn't have a clue what to do with the ranch. They mainly wanted it to be a cash cow and that is not what ranches are. They struggled with several different managers and several sets of trustees, and the goals and objectives kept changing. The last 10-12 years of severe drought didn't help matters, either.
It will be interesting to see if the new owners can manage the resident elk herd which has grown too large for the ranch to support in an ecologically sound manner.
