PROPERTY VALUE

VERDE WEST RANCH

            What does property value mean to you?  It may be the value placed on your property by the local taxing authority or it may be the intrinsic value placed on the property by the owner.  Either way you have made an investment in property and expect that investment to increase in value over time.  How you treat your property will affect that future value.  This is a commentary on the value of the Verde West Ranch, and how to protect your investment here.

            On my first visit to the Verde West Ranch during the opening of phase one sales, I counted 27 deer, a drove of 9 turkeys, a bobcat, 3 skunks, and a host of other small animals on the drive into the ranch.  To me this represented an environment rich in wildlife and only minor intrusions by man.  Since then I have encountered mountain lion; badger; javelina; raccoon; fox, porcupine, ground squirrel; mice; jack rabbit; cotton tail; scaled quail; dove; hundreds of indigenous and migratory birds; lizards and garter snakes.  I’m sure I have missed, or forgotten to name, other animals.

            As the seasons have rolled by during the past year I paid attention to the vegetation.  The winter is rather bleak and there is not much color, however, around late February and early March this area begins to green-up as the days get longer.  In March the Laurel blooms with bright purple flowers and the scent of those blooms fill the air until mid April.  Following the Laurel is the Spanish Dagger with towering clusters of white flowers.  A few spring showers later and the mesquite and acacia leaves turn the valleys in to bright green pastures.  By May the cacti begins to bloom and keeps the desert filled with color thru late June.

            No matter what season you visit your ranch, nature will provide you with lots of eye candy.  All you have to do is slow down and look.  Some of the most beautiful little flowers are fingernail sized an only inches form the ground on a single stem; yellow, white, lavender, blue, they grow all year.

            When I first came to this ranch, one of the weekend neighbors from a nearby hunting lease said to me, “ This place is covered with rattle snakes.” 

I said, “Well, tell me, truthfully, just how many have you seen?” 

His reply was, “ Well while walking down by the Pecos I saw a big one on a rock.” 

“Is that the only one?”

“ Yes, but it was a really big one.” He said.

So I have been on a quest for the past year to see one for myself.  I have walked on just about every tract in the VWR, during weather that was warm or even hot.  I’ve seen a couple of grass snakes, a Western Ribbon Snake and a Common Garter Snake, twice.  I have not been able to locate the illusive rattler. If you see one, don’t kill it, would you please give me a call? 

By 1996, this ranch was grazed down to bare ground.  Since then the cattle are gone and the land is building itself back to it’s natural beauty.  The food source is replenishing itself and game is moving in to eat and take advantage of the habitat.  The aspects of habitat, food and water sources are the main features that make VWR what it is today, a game magnet.  With livestock gone for over 10 years, a natural balance has taken place in the Oppenheimer Valley.  It should be every tract owner’s goal to maintain this balance as closely as possible.  This means low impact land development.  Keep this in mind the next time you want to cut down a tree, or bulldoze a new road, or drive your four wheeler across a cactus patch.  All of this vegetation is food for some species of animal, bird or insect and without it, the rocks and dirt would become quite boring to our view.

If you want a lot of game and big trophy  bucks, the land must be managed on a positive basis.  There is more to raising big bucks than putting out corn and protein.  Without suitable natural habitat, they will move.  Keep intrusion into deer habitat to a minimum.

Many years ago I saw a large herd of whitetail nearly wiped out by anthrax.  The heard was established in an area without predators.  When the anthrax entered the heard there was nothing to slow it down.  VWR is very lucky in this respect, since I have seen predators such as the Cougar, Bobcat, and Black Bear. 

Some of you may think predators are a bad thing and are afraid to go for a walk on your property.  There is no need to fear these animals since they are more afraid of you, and with due cause.  I would say you were very lucky if you even caught a glimpse of fleeting Cougar.  If you encounter any of these predators in the wild, take these measures to drive them away: Do Not Run, throw up your hands and become as large as you can, yell at them, make offensives noises.  Consider these predators as health insurance for your deer heard. 

If you like your rabbit population, you might want to think about this fact.  The same predator effect that Cougars have on the deer, so do snakes have on the rabbit population.  This goes even further, if you move into a trailer or build a home on our property, you will encounter the omni present mouse.  Some snakes prefer insects and others prefer mice and rabbit.  The rattler prefers a nice mouse or rabbit.  Rabbits get disease in their group, just like deer.  Snakes are beneficial to us.  They will keep down the bug and mouse population.  So, please think twice before you kill one of these lowly creatures.  What would it hurt to just walk around it and let it move off to another area?  After all, they did not stalk you, you probably moved into their habitat and it’s time to move back out.  Think about this…If you won’t eat it, don’t kill it.

How does this effect your property values? 

By maintaining a healthy natural environment for game and people to live in, your property value will rise.  The more game and scenic beauty available in VWR the more sought after your property will become.

Enjoy the nature and beauty of the flora and fauna of your ranch, along with the big sky and peace and quiet that it offers. 

Bill Hauser

Tract 32 VWR