Investor,

environmentalist buys property



By RUTH HEIDE

FORT GARLAND — With no drastic changes planned in the near future, investor and environmentalist Louis Moore Bacon, 51, has purchased the approximately 171,400-acre Forbes Trinchera Ranch in Costilla County.

Bacon, founder and chairman of Moore Capital Management, a leading investment firm, closed the deal on the ranch on Thursday.

A spokesman for Bacon said the noted environmentalist and conservationist planned to retain the current staff and uses of the ranch at the present time. The spokesman said Bacon would spend part of every year at the Trinchera Ranch with his family and friends to enjoy the view, hunting, hiking and similar activities “as many members of the local community and other visitors have long done and will continue to do.”

He also anticipates creating some additional jobs, the Bacon spokesman said, and contributing to the local economy.

“Whether there are any changes down the road, it really hasn’t been determined,” the Bacon spokesman said. “At this point there’s no plans to change anything at all except who owns the property.”

The spokesman added that Bacon purchased the sizable acreage “because of its scenic grandeur and unspoiled natural habitat including a rich variety of wildlife and natural vegetation, both of which the Forbes family protected, maintained and enhanced during its 38 years of ownership and stewardship.

“Louis Bacon is deeply committed and uniquely qualified to honor and maintain that legacy of environmental stewardship.”

Monie Begley, spokesperson for the Forbes family, confirmed the ranch sale to Bacon and said everyone was very happy with the sale. “It is wonderful for the ranch,” she said.

For 38 years the Forbes family has owned the ranch which is the largest privately owned ranch in Colorado. It was originally a part of the Sangre de Cristo Spanish land grant made in 1843.

Malcolm Forbes initially purchased Trinchera Ranch in 1969 and subsequently purchased the contiguous Blanca Ranch in 1982. The Forbes family has used the property for an executive retreat, corporate entertaining and a hunting preserve.

Steve Forbes, president and chief executive officer of Forbes, said the conservation easement granted to Colorado Open Lands in 2004 will continue in perpetuity. He added, “We could not imagine a more perfect buyer for Trinchera. Louis Bacon has passionately devoted much of his life and resources to the protection of extraordinary properties. Trinchera has been an important part of our lives. By finding such a committed owner, we are certain Trinchera will thrive and be enjoyed, as it is, for years to come.”

Bacon founded the Moore Charitable Foundation in 1992 to provide financial support to nonprofit organizations focusing primarily on conservation and protection of natural resources through advocacy, applied science, technology and research.

Since that time he donated numerous conservation easements on the east coast.

Bacon founded Moore Capital Management, a successful investment firm involved in global financial markets and macro hedge funds, Bacon’s spokesman said. He added that Bacon has offices in New York and London, and his principal residence is in London.

Forbes Magazine lists Bacon, a native of North Carolina, among the world’s billionaires and among the 400 richest Americans.

“Mr. Bacon is and has long been well known for his deep and long-standing support of environmental conservation,” his spokesman said. “He is a nationally known environmental conservationist.”

He added, “Essentially as his other real estate investments demonstrate, Mr. Bacon does love the outdoors. He likes to hunt and fish and is deeply committed to environmental conservation. His decision to purchase the Forbes Trinchera Ranch reflects all of those factors, all of those considerations.”

He said Bacon has been “on the right side of environmental issues‚“ for a long time and has invested in significant private properties in the past.

For example, Bacon purchased the 434-acre Robins Island on Long Island’s South Shore in 1993 and donated a conservation easement on the property. Robins Island is the largest privately owned uninhabited island in the northeast. The conservation easement prevented further subdivision of the island and preserved its environmental integrity, Bacon’s spokesman said.

Representing one of the most significant conservation gifts in Long Island history, Bacon permanently protected the 540-acre Cow Neck Farm in the Town of Southampton through a conservation easement to the Peconic Land Trust in 2001. The year before he had donated to the Peconic Land Trust a conservation easement on the 30-acre Gerrymander tract, including 800 feet of Little Sebonac Creek frontage, across from Cow Neck Farm.

In 2004 Bacon granted a similar conservation easement to The Nature Conservancy on a 50-acre parcel next to Cow Neck known as Tern Island. In all, Bacon preserved more than 1,100 acres through conservation easements in Southampton and Southold.