Landscape Attributes Of Subdivided Ranches

Abstract

The western states have become the fastest growing region in the United States during the 1990's. Previously, people living in the West could be divided into two dissimilar groups-urban dwellers in cities and larger towns, and those residing in rural areas on farms and ranches and in small towns (Figure 1). Today, differences between Western urban and rural areas are less distinct as a new segment of the population moves onto small acreages, commonly called ranchettes. These small tracts of land sold for rural residences come almost exclusively from the subdivision of farms and ranches. As a result, many rural localities are experiencing rapid population growth from such demographic shifts (Riebsame 1997). These rural areas are attracting a disproportionate share of young families and college graduates (Nord and Cromartie 1 999). Most notably, subdivisions fragment rangelands primarily from construction of roads and buildings. Theobald and his associates (1996) evaluated landscape change following recent subdivisions of ranches in the East River Valley above Gunnison, Colorado. They found that total road length increased by 60 percent between 1964 and 1994, with more than one-third of new road construction occurring during the last five years. The number of buildings more than doubled during the same 30-year period. Subdivided parcels in the mountains are frequently situated in valley bottoms and on nearby mountain slopes (Figure 2). Along the foothills between the plains and montane zone of the Rocky Mountain Front Range, rural areas are similarly being subdivided for residences. However, the physiographic features of privately-owned Front Range landscapes are somewhat different than those found at higher elevations. Proximity to public lands, primarily National Parks and National Forests, is common to both situations. Unlike 19th Century pioneers to the region who commonly established homesites in drainages for protection from wind and storms, foothills subdivisions are repeatedly laid out on high ground overlooking surrounding landscapes. New home construction and well digging technologies, coupled with no necessity of having to care for livestock, allow today's foothills ranchette resident to place a premium upon panoramic viewscapes. Although subdivision parcels exceeding 35 acres are widespread, many are partitioned into smaller sizes. Land val-