As of October 2026, the biggest piece of open ground on Missouri Heights is in conservation hands. Aspen Valley Land Trust holds the title, a restrictive covenant protects it on behalf of Eagle and Pitkin counties, and all three partners manage it together. Nobody has decided yet what that means day to day. Three Meadows Ranch covers 4,251 acres along Cottonwood Pass. Aspen Valley Land Trust, Eagle County Open Space and Natural Resources, and Pitkin County Open Space & Trails bought it in February 2025 for $27.7 million, about $6,516 an acre.
The deal came together faster than anyone involved expected. The planning since then has been slow on purpose. A three-year planning period is underway. As of May 2026, Pitkin County's open space director expected a long-term management plan to take about another year. In the meantime, the work that has been approved is mostly about what stays off the land: neighbors' cattle, weeds, subdivision, and in a separate county process, commercial event uses on the rural parcels around it.
About Nine Weeks From Offer to Closing
Public land deals usually take budget cycles. This one fit inside a single winter.
- December 19, 2024: AVLT submits an offer to First Western Trust Bank, which had taken the ranch back after a foreclosure. The bank accepts the next day, according to The Sopris Sun.
- January 8, 2025: Pitkin County commissioners unanimously approve a $7.7 million contribution.
- February 4, 2025: Eagle County commissioners approve their share, as Vail Daily reported.
- Late February 2025: The Aspen Daily News reported on February 21 that the purchase closed that week.
The money came from three places. Eagle County put in $12.5 million, Pitkin County $7.7 million, and AVLT $7.5 million, all of it from a Wexner Family Charitable Fund donation. AVLT executive director Suzanne Stephens told The Aspen Times that the family's gift closed a funding gap that "would have otherwise been difficult if not impossible to fill in such short order." Colorado Parks and Wildlife later added $26,000 from AES's voluntary solar mitigation fund toward transaction and management costs, the Post Independent reported in November 2025.
Eagle County's open space director, Marcia Gilles, told The Aspen Times that AVLT's lead role explained the speed: "we were able to move much faster than standard government processes allow."
What the Hurry Was About
The ranch had already been divided on paper. Eagle County's February 2025 presentation counted 33 legal parcels. Twelve of them were platted 35- to 40-acre lots along Cottonwood Pass, and the presentation noted that the other unplatted tracts over 35 acres could also be subdivided. The Sopris Sun described the 2024 listing as carrying no easements or development restrictions.
The price history shows how exposed the land was. An LLC bought the ranch in 2021 for $15.9 million, according to the Aspen Daily News. By early 2025 the asking price was $29 million and the appraisal came in at $27.8 million. The partners paid $27.7 million, slightly under appraisal, for land whose value had risen by roughly three-quarters in about four years while its lot lines were already drawn.
AVLT had tried for a conservation easement on the property back in 2018, The Sopris Sun reported. Stephens said the work with the previous owners fell through "for reasons beyond our control." When the ranch came back on the market in late 2024, the partners treated it as a second chance that might not come again.
Why the Second Half Moves Slowly
A three-way partnership let AVLT move first on the purchase, and it also means every management decision has three owners. AVLT, Pitkin County and Eagle County share equal authority over decisions. The counties supply management funding and crews, and AVLT supplies local staff and on-site oversight. Three equal partners need paperwork before they can spend money together. On May 13, 2026, Pitkin County commissioners unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding on first reading so the two counties can split management costs. Under it, one county pays a contractor and the other reimburses its share. The second reading was scheduled for May 27.
The partners are also still getting to know the land. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is running joint natural-resource inventories and wildlife habitat studies with them. A historical review of the land, from Native American use to the present, is planned. Gilles described a resident elk herd of more than 300 and a primary movement corridor between protected public lands. Stephens called the ranch "literally of existential importance to our local Frying Pan elk herd."
So far, the condition of the place has helped. Pitkin County Open Space and Trails director Gary Tennenbaum spoke to The Aspen Times in May:
"It's not as much as we originally thought. The property is actually in really good shape overall … It's not as expensive as we thought."
He also said, "Right now, we're still in a learning phase."
The First Visible Change Is a Fence
For anyone driving Cottonwood Pass, the first project likely to show up on the ground is new fencing. Tennenbaum named fence replacement as one of the largest costs for 2026 and said long sections are in "really poor shape." The goal is to keep cattle from neighboring properties out of Three Meadows, and to keep any future Three Meadows cattle from wandering onto neighbors' land.
On August 4, 2026, Eagle County commissioners approved a construction agreement with Rocky Mountain Ranch Services, LLC for the Three Meadows Ranch Fencing Project. The contract summary describes a two-season job to replace distressed perimeter fencing, improve wildlife migration, and protect agricultural and site infrastructure. The county's original request for proposals asked for wildlife-friendly designs. We found no public record yet showing whether crews have started. With a two-season scope, the work could run into 2027.
The fence matters because agriculture is still a possible use. Eagle County's acquisition materials list a past grazing lease for up to 200 cattle, 120 acres of flood-irrigated pasture, 29.06 cubic feet per second of senior water rights, and two reservoirs with 609 acre-feet of allocated storage. Vail Daily reported at the time of purchase that the grazing lease and water rights would let agricultural use continue. Tennenbaum's comment about the ranch possibly getting "its own cows" indicates that question is still open.
Where Public Access Stands
The partners have never promised public access. When the purchase was announced, the Aspen Daily News reported the ranch would not be open to the public. Eagle County's own evaluation rated its access and recreation value as low and said options would be considered through a collaborative management plan. At the February 2025 approval, county staff said possible access would be evaluated "over the coming months and years."
As of mid-October 2026, the status breaks down like this:
- Settled: ownership, the funding split, and joint management by three equal partners.
- Approved and scheduled: the two-season perimeter fence replacement and weed management.
- In progress: CPW wildlife and natural-resource studies. A historical review is planned for some point down the road.
- Not yet decided: public access, trails, any guided visits, and whether grazing resumes. A management plan is the vehicle for all of these, and it was about a year from drafting as of May 2026.
AVLT's events page did not list any ranch outings when we checked. Pitkin County Commissioner Greg Poschman described the land's purpose this way to The Aspen Times: "This is elk heaven up here. It's been saved for them forever and it's theirs."
The Hearing on the Other Side of the Fence
Going by the May 2026 estimate, drafting of the ranch's own plan would start sometime around spring 2027. The rules for the private land around it are on a much shorter clock. Eagle County is rewriting its land use code, and the rewrite has drawn detailed comments from Missouri Heights.
In a July 15, 2026 comment on the draft, Keep Missouri Heights Rural cited its 2025 community survey, which closed August 1, 2025. Respondents rated "a predominantly quiet environment" 4.83 out of 5 and "wildlife protection" 4.79 out of 5 as their top priorities, and most said commercial agritainment should be prohibited. Another commenter, writing June 3, argued the opposite, saying that removing by-right uses on rural parcels larger than two acres would hurt agricultural and equestrian owners. On September 7, county staff replied in the draft code's comment record that "the RR, RE, BC, and OSR zoning districts that apply to Missouri Heights do not allow agritainment." Staff also pointed to a new AR10 district created for some rural properties outside the mid-valley planning area.
That language is still a draft. Eagle County's project schedule shows the October 7 recommendation to commissioners was tabled to a joint work session. The adoption hearing is listed for November 3, 2026. For the parcels next to a 4,251-acre wildlife reserve, that hearing is the next date on the calendar where something will actually be decided.
If you own land near Three Meadows or along Cottonwood Pass and want to know how the draft zoning, the fence project or the ranch's future management could affect your property, Mike Eaton follows these records and can go through them with you parcel by parcel. Start the conversation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
