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5,500-acre ranch may be added to Wind Cave park

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  • Originally published July 23, 2010 at 9:41 a.m., updated July 23, 2010 at 3:09 p.m.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A 5,500-acre ranch could become part of Wind Cave National Park after the Conservation Fund purchased the land at public auction on behalf of the park in southwest South Dakota.

The nonprofit Conservation Fund bid $7.5 million and will hold the Casey ranch in trust until Congress approves money to buy it, Tom Farrell, spokesman for the park, said Friday.

The sale Wednesday capped 10 years of uncertainty on whether the land would remain in its natural state as part of the 107-year-old park or be developed for homes and business.

President Obama's fiscal year 2011 budget includes $8.5 million to purchase the ranch, which is adjacent to the existing 28,295-acre park and contains timber, grass, rugged outcroppings and cultural sites, Farrell said.

"It's an amazing piece of land, a natural extension of the park," he said.

The sale was part of a court-ordered settlement involving members of the Casey family, owners of the tourism attraction Bear Country USA in the Black Hills.

Gates Watson, a regional representative for the Conservation Fund, said the group has been working with the Park Service for several years on the purchase and was pleased with the price.

"It was what we needed to pay on the day of the auction," Watson said. "I think we expected things to go a little bit higher for sure. But we were happy to be successful."

The Casey family offered to sell the ranch to the National Park Service in 2000. Former Sen. Tom Daschle helped persuade the Senate to twice set aside $5 million to $6 million for the purchase, but the House didn't go along.

When a sale to the park didn't happen, the family put the ranch on the market for $13.5 million in 2003. A sale to a private developer fell through the following year.

The ranch is now being used to graze buffalo.

The Conservation Fund is a nonprofit organization that helps protect land considered valuable for its wildlife habitat, history or recreation potential. The Fund buys the land and holds it until its partner in the deal has the money to buy it.

"We will work in concert with Wind Cave National Park to manage that property on an interim basis until they can secure the required or needed funding to take out our position," Watson said.


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