Holt Mountain/RS Ranch

Location
The properties are located in Catron County, near the small community of Glenwood in the Gila Mountains of Western New Mexico.

Description
This ranch encompasses an approximate total of 44,231 acres of the western slopes of this forage rich mountain range down to the beautiful San Francisco River bottom. The Pleasanton allotment is located adjacent to headquarters on the west side of Hwy 180 and the Holt Gulch allotment is located directly across the highway.

The improved 74 deeded acres in the river bottom include massive cottonwoods and extremely productive irrigated pastureland. Nearly sixteen acres feature a modern irrigation system which efficiently waters the irrigated land. An additional 43 deeded acres located about 2 miles north and straddles the San Francisco River along the eastern border of the Pleasanton allotment. This acreage features a set of corrals and a 3bd, 2ba mobile home with a domestic well.
The Holt Gulch USFS grazing allotment is rated at 150 cows yearlong and the Pleasanton USFS grazing allotment is rated at nearly 500 cows yearlong. The ranches have the infrastructure and grass to meet these ratings. There are 15.7 acres of water right land with 3.2 acre feet per annum allocation along the river bottom.

Elevations on the ranch vary from 4,600 feet in the river bottom to over 8,200 feet at the upper reaches of the Holt Gulch Allotment. With over 3,600 feet of vertical change from the river bottom to the upper mountain country, terrain and ecosystems vary a great deal. The ranches include lower desert areas with a wide variety of grasses and browse for livestock. The property then transitions to moderate high desert terrain with piñon juniper areas offering diverse grasses, ultimately elevating to the ponderosa pine ecosystem with higher elevation grasses and browse.

The headquarters area of the ranch serves as the base property for the USFS grazing allotment. The grazing leasehold on these ranches will provide an owner with an economical means of providing grass feed to livestock while avoiding the high cost of capital outlay on fee surface land ownership. Generally, private lease rates for an animal unit vary from $15-$30 per month whereas USFS land currently rents for $1.41 per animal unit per month. Livestock operators have long known that leasehold interests for grazing allow for a larger bottom line profit. Historical operation of this ranch has been to graze mother cows and calves on the allotment and irrigated lands near the headquarters.

The headquarters portion of the ranch is separated into six irrigated pastures, all with fencing throughout. Pasture rotation is easy and efficient. The pastures are planted in clover, fescue and orchard grass. Water delivery for irrigating the pastures is efficient via concrete ditch and new gated valves for flood irrigation.
The Holt Gulch Allotment is fenced into 5 main pastures and 2 traps. The allotment is watered via 2 solar wells, 6 springs, over 18 miles of on top of the ground pipeline, and 22 drinkers.

The Pleasanton Allotment is fenced into 5 main pastures and 3 traps. The allotment is watered via 2 livestock wells, river access and 52 dirt tanks, all currently full of water.

Interior and exterior fencing is comprised generally of four and five strand barbed wire. Wire gates or cattle guards and two track roads provide access to all major pastures on the ranch. Fencing is functional and is considered to be in average condition for a USFS allotment. Addition of a few strategically located range corrals would be helpful to an owner.


Wildlife & Recreation
Primary wildlife residing within the Holt Gulch Allotment and along the river area consists of elk, mule deer, coues whitetail, eastern whitetail, bear, and lion. There are numerous smaller fur bearing game and birds including healthy populations of gamble and blue quail on the ranch.

The headquarters area of the ranch is located in NM Department of Game and Fish Unit 23. The Holt Gulch Allotment directly across the highway from the headquarters area is in NM Department of Game and Fish Unit 22.

With its location set right in between both of these hunting units, the ranch could easily derive additional income by providing an excellent location for hunters to lodge and hunt on their own, or if the owner is so inclined, an owner operator hunting operation could be set up to provide supplemental income.


Structural Improvements
Holt Mountain Ranch: 2,800 square foot owner’s home with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, a functional wood barn, panel corrals, squeeze chute, small shop, and storage/outbuildings that could be renovated to a wide variety of uses.

Pleasanton Ranch: 1,000 square foot cabin with 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living area, outhouse and storage building.