Rancher changes tune about wolves in real estate ad

By Todd Wilkinson
regional columnist and author

I don't have a license to sell real estate, and I doubt I'll receive a penny of commission if anyone, upon reading this advertisement, decides to part with $1.1 million to buy the Next Right Thing Ranch.

Situated in Montana's Paradise Valley, some 25 miles north of Yellowstone National Park, the Next Right Thing recently came on the market and what follows, verbatim, is the owner-seller's description of his property:

"At the Next Right Thing Ranch, wildlife are your closest neighbors. Moose, big horn sheep, grizzly bears, wolves, mule and white-tailed deer all share the neighborhood, as do a wide variety of smaller species, such as beaver and coyotes. One of the most visible wildlife species is elk that winter on the adjacent Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's Winter Range. Herds numbering in the thousands are not uncommon."

Yes, the place sounds an awful lot like Nirvana (and it is), if you're the kind of person who appreciates having true wildness out the back door and all of the various elements that come with it. The seller goes on to explain that the Paradise Valley "should have been a national park on the scale of Yellowstone"; that's how ecologically rich it is.

In the name of full disclosure, I should note the Next Right Thing Ranch isn't owned by just anyone in this breathtaking dell chock-full of movie stars, corporate CEOs and other bigwigs who merely want a place where they can relax anonymously and not be hounded.

This 41-acre tract is owned by Robert T. Fanning, Jr., one of the most vocal anti-wolf crusaders in the American West, who has gone before western state legislators, members of Congress, Wise Use groups, and TV cameras tirelessly informing the public how wolves have decimated the landscape near his ranch and transformed Yellowstone into "a biological desert."

In fact, you read right here how Mr. Fanning, a few years ago, declared that by 2004, the "largest migrating elk herd on Earth (Yellowstone's northern elk herd, which inhabits land around Mr. Fanning's property) will be completely extinct."

Mr. Fanning added that: "We predict entire communities in Montana will vanish because no one spoke up for social justice for the people who were forced to live with wolves."

More recently, he claimed the nearby Absaroka-Beartooth mountains, which he called "continental America's most productive public hunting grounds and Montana's most popular hunting grounds" are "now destroyed by wolf predation."

Being a lowly journalist, I admit that I don't know much about the real estate business, but I do know that, by law, the sellers of private property and their agents have to tell the truth when they are listing a piece of land.

A guy can get sued for lying or deliberately misleading prospective buyers if the property is not what it is claimed to be.

Mr. Fanning's real estate representatives have him quoted as saying, "Anyone who buys this ranch won't be disappointed. It is a one-of-a-kind, end-of-the road ranch, providing one of the last chances to live in Paradise Valley – a place that is indeed paradise for anyone who loves wild things and wild places."

I was thinking that maybe Mr. Fanning could clear up what appears to be a significant contradiction.

In the past, Bob Fanning and other sportsmen in the anti-wolf movement have promoted a vision of wolves turning the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem into a wasteland devoid of big game, especially elk.

But in his real estate ad — read it at www.nextrightthingranch.com — he creates a visual scene of a landscape teeming with wildlife. ... "One of the most visible wildlife species is elk that winter on the adjacent winter range."

Mr. Fanning says "Herds numbering in the thousands are not uncommon."

Once and for all, Bob, set the record straight: Are the public lands around your $1.1 million ranch a wildlife shangri-la or a wasteland; are there good numbers of elk or are there not?

Tell us, in the name of full legal disclosure: Is having wolves and abundant wildlife an asset or a liability to the value of your land? You're not under oath, but someday you could be.