Marvel ups the
ante
Sporting a bright-green
button that said: “I support welfare ranching,” Hailey, Idaho,
conservationist Jon Marvel bid $12,000 for the right to lease a
960-acre parcel of state land. After rancher Mike Ward bid $12,050
for the 10-year lease, Marvel folded and declared victory.
“We’ve approximately tripled the cost of the
lease for the rancher,” Marvel said. “Since he’s willing to pay,
it’s indicative that the state is undervaluing the land it leases
for grazing.” A decade ago, Ward paid $5,000 for rights to lease
the land.
Ward, who has held the rights to the
land for the past two decades, said he will appeal the results of
the auction to the state Land Board. “I wasn’t going to go that
high,” but the timing of the auction – delayed for several months –
left him no time to find other pastures, he said. “What was my
other choice – sell my Herefords?”
*Dan
Egan
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Marvel ups the ante.
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