Epstein et. al: The Ranch Management Styles of the Very Rich

In With, Not for, Money: Ranch Management Trajectories of the Super-Rich in Greater Yellowstone, Kathleen Epstein, Julia H. Haggerty (both Montana State, Earth Sciences), and Hannah Gosnell (Oregon State, Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences) address a gap in the literature related to the social and ecological implications of ranches owned by individuals with a high net worth (HNW).

Historically, rural landowners were often categorized as “land rich, cash poor.” The authors, however, focus on the increasing influence of HNW individuals as owners of land and other natural resources in the West. In particular, the authors analyze different management strategies of these HNW landowners in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. They use “life course theory,” which emphasizes trajectories both in individual human lives and the broader social histories in which individual experiences play out, to evaluate ranch management styles and compare them with the social status and experiences of the owners.

The authors build four composite management styles of the super-rich, including using lands as: (1) a preserve for habitat and heritage, (2) an elite corporate retreat, (3) a “moderated” conservation experiment, and (4) a strategic investment. In the first two modes of management, the ranches operated at a financial deficit. The land was used for family vacations and reunions, a guest operation, and an “escape from the rat race.” The last two ranch management styles operated with some financial gains, usually as a cattle ranch or working with some form of livestock. But overall, the authors found that the HNW landowners were particularly focused on land amenities and that their management styles were uneven, often “largely tied to the idiosyncratic nature of elite landowner profiles.”

The authors note that although wealthy individuals were often overlooked in prior scholarship, they now find themselves the subjects of extensive social analysis. The authors outline further research, particularly in geography, that is necessary to determine the long-term impacts of such management styles on the land and surrounding rural non-HNW landowners and community members.