To Bob Schroeder, it wasn't the best of all possible solutions.
That would have been for him and his siblings to never have to sell their ranch at all.
The cattle operation of nearly 7,000 deeded and leased acres in the lower Bitterroot Valley has been in the Schroeder/Maclay family since the early 1880s. Today it represents a rural buffer zone between ever-encroaching development in northern Ravalli County and the Miller Creek area of Missoula.
“You know, the decision to sell was never particularly an economic one,” Schroeder said. “There are six children in our family now and we all get along fine. There's going to be 30-some heirs in the next generation. How do you keep that from becoming a giant family squabble?”
Roger Lang was the next best answer.
Lang, owner of the sprawling 18,700-acre Sun Ranch http://www.papoosecreek.com/ in Montana's Madison Valley, bought the Schroeder Ranch last month for $26 million.
Sun Ranch Institute http://www.sunranchinstitute.org/
By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian
Full Story: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/12/16/news/local/news04.txt