“Jim had the vision to assemble Trees Ranch starting in 1982 with the dream of making it a national park of this own, while bringing 200 acres of land into organic production. He dedicated himself to a conservation ethic for the rest of his life and was an excellent steward of this land as a result,” said Bill Budinger, friend of Trees and fellow Grand Canyon Trust board member, as well as founder, former chairman and CEO of Rodel, Inc.

The ranch is home to the Springdale Fruit Company, Utah’s first organic apple orchard. Offering historic water rights, the East Fork of the Virgin River and Shunes Creek flow through the property and were recently designated “Wild and Scenic.” South Creek and the North Fork of the Virgin River dissect the ranch as well.

Trees Ranch features four homes and several ranch buildings. Designed by renowned architect, William McDonough, a pioneer and leader in the sustainability design movement as recognized by several national awards and Time magazine, the homes rest near the orchard, fields and rivers, and utilize pressed adobe-like block, rocks and timbers made from local materials to reflect the geology and history of the area.

There are numerous historic sites on the property including pre-historic Anasazi ruins and the pioneer settlement of Shunesburg explored by John Wesley Powell in 1872 as part of western surveys conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey.

According to listing ranch broker Ken Mirr of Mirr Ranch Group, Trees and his partner worked to maintain the abundant natural, agricultural, recreational, historical and cultural resources of the ranch. The heirs of the founding owners are seeking buyers who will continue this tradition of exemplary stewardship.

“As part of our focus in finding a conservation buyer to protect the numerous resources associated with Trees Ranch, we recently arranged tours with national and local conservation groups. These groups included The Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, and Virgin River Land Preservation Association, as well as the Superintendent of Zion National Park,” explains Mirr.

Jason Corzine of The Trust for Public Land reports, “The Trees Ranch offers the most spectacular views of the sandstone monoliths that frame Zion National Park. Coupled with hundreds of years of Mormon pioneer history, the property is one of the most unique in the southwestern United States. The ranch’s proximity to one of America’s most popular national parks makes it a compelling conservation and recreation opportunity.”

For media inquiries, to arrange for an interview or an expert quote please contact Mallory Boyce at (303) 623-4545 ext. 4. Photography available upon request.

About Mirr Ranch Group
Mirr Ranch Group offers marketing and buyer acquisition services for fine sporting properties and legacy ranches for sale throughout the American West. Brokers for the company are known for their expertise in sporting and conservation in addition to their unsurpassed knowledge of ranch transactions.

For more information, contact:
Mirr Ranch Group
915 South Pearl Street
Denver, CO 80209
(303) 623-4545
http://www.MirrRanchGroup.com

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Trees Ranch, a Utah ranch for sale adjoining Zion National Park, was featured in today’s Wall Street Journal Private Properties column. The article focuses on the ownership of the late Jim Trees, former CEO of New York investment firm Fischer, Francis, Trees & Watts.

Jim Trees, who was also a conservationist and founding member of the Grand Canyon Trust, and his visionary partner dedicated themselves to creating a national park of their own while maintaining the agricultural and cultural traditions of the Anasazi, Paiutes and pioneer settlers who farmed the ranch’s fertile virgin soils with pristine waters. Less than 10% of the ranch is protected by a conservation easement, leaving a blank canvas for the next owner to add their mark and continue the tradition of exemplary stewardship.

Conservation Values include:

• Zion National Park adjoining the ranch has recently been expanded and it has been designated as wilderness; this, coupled with the adjoining Canaan Mountain Wilderness, virtually assures the pristine nature of the ranch forever.
• Adjoining stretches of the East Fork of the Virgin River and Shunes Creek are designated as “Wild and Scenic.”
• Adjoining Parunuweep Canyon is designated as a “Natural Research Area” by the U.S. National Park Service.
• Scenic vistas
• Geological diversity
• High-quality terrestrial and aquatic communities with natural habitat for rare, endangered and threatened native fish, wildlife and plants
• Significant historical and cultural areas such as the Shunesburg settlement and traces of the Virgin Anasazi and Paiute Indians

In addition, the article talks about the architecture on the property. Famed architect William McDonough designed the four homes and several ranch buildings on the property.

See the article for this Utah ranch for sale at the Wall Street Journal. Trees Ranch is featured in the middle of the column and photos of the ranch can be viewed in the slide show.

Here’s a little bit of history. In 1968, Congress created the Wild and Scenic Rivers System “to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations.” According to rivers.gov, there are three classifications:

Wild river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive America.

Scenic river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads.

Recreational river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have some development along their shorelines, and that may have undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past.

For Utah ranchland for sale as well as other river properties throughout the United States, the intent of these classifications is to protect and enhance the values that classified the rivers in the first place. It should be noted that this type of designation does not prohibit development nor grant government control over the private property. According to the program, “protection of the river is provided through voluntary stewardship by landowners and river users and through regulation and programs of federal, state, local, or tribal governments.”

Look through photos of the Trees Ranch, one of our Utah ranches for sale, to see the “wild and scenic” East Fork of the Virgin River and Shunes Creek.