Wyoming buys Converse ranch. "It is accessible. It is central. It is beautiful."

In years past, whenever the five elected state officials pondered buying private land for state ownership, the opposition was sizeable, vocal and sometimes downright hostile.

On Thursday, the only person to speak to the State Loan and Investment Board about a proposal to buy the Duncan Ranch in Converse County was former Gov. Mike Sullivan, now a Casper lawyer, representing another lawyer, Hugh Duncan, the ranch owner.

Duncan, Sullivan said, has mixed feelings over selling the ranch, because it is his home and has been in his family for four generations. Sullivan said that although he gets nervous when people use the word "visionary" when they talk about a project, it might fit the Duncan Ranch project.

"It is accessible. It is central. It is beautiful," Sullivan said.

By JOAN BARRON
Star-Tribune capital bureau

Full Story: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/02/03/news/wyoming/4202c287b5efaacc8725710a0006b174.txt