No expert knows everything about every place, not even everything about any place.
                 — Wendell Berry

Ranch managers are too often unfamiliar with today’s heightened stewardship demands, which require professional expertise in finance, ecology, emerging natural resource markets, and government regulations. Carrus is a diversified team of professional land and natural resource managers with extensive experience and the proven skills and experience to successfully manage large landscapes. Headquartered in Logan, Utah, our members are dispersed throughout the West.

Sheldon Atwood, PhD. Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Sheldon received his degree from Utah State University in 2005 for work integrating ecology, economics, and behavior. He has a broad-based agricultural and real estate background. He has conducted inner-city restoration projects reducing urban sprawl, operated a working ranch for multiple values, and established a private wildlife management area. His work at Banner Resource Management helped increase revenues from its Beaver Creek Ranch in western North Dakota by 360% over a four-year period while enhancing environmental values and strengthening local relationships.

Daniel K. Dygert, Esq. Chief Operating Officer. Dan received his law degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Arizona, College of Law, in 1999. Dan’s experience as an attorney includes acting as counsel for the borrower in negotiating and documenting a $290.0 million credit facility; acting as counsel for the seller in a ranch sale; acting as counsel for the target corporation in a public merger transaction; acting as counsel for a regional airline in numerous leveraged-lease transactions; representing a hydropower development firm before federal agencies; and many other transactions involving mergers and acquisitions, real estate transfers, and miscellaneous corporate matters. Dan has chosen to leave his law practice to spearhead operations related to organizational establishment, initial project engagement, and plan implementation.

Nicole McCoy, PhD. Business Development Director. Nicole received her PhD in Forest Economics from Colorado State University in 1999. A dynamic natural resource economist, Nicole has pioneered innovations in forest management and biological incursion models used around the world. An expert in private-public hunting partnerships, Nicole serves as national and international adviser in developing cooperative wildlife programs that create incentives for wildlife stewardship. Her passion for synthesis and systemization complements the rest of the group and allows her to balance current and future needs. Nicole’s experience in federal and state agricultural and natural resource policy allows her to keep abreast of changes in the political environment that may impact private landowners.

Gregg Simonds, Project Analyst. Gregg is an internationally renowned natural resource consultant and ranch manager, having worked for many of the nation’s largest ranches and several developing countries. His twenty-five-year career sets the bar for innovative and integrative land management, and his love for the land is evidenced in his commitment to mentoring a new generation of managers and developing more efficient and effective means for monitoring land health at large scales.

Rick Danvir, Partner. As the Wildlife Manager for major western ranches in several states, Rick is an experienced biologist and manager, with over thirty years experience in wildlife research and management. Rick has demonstrated the ability to enhance habitat and populations of game and non-game species using innovation and cost-effective techniques. In addition to being an accomplished biologist and outfitter, Rick is frequently invited to speak at range and wildlife symposia throughout North America.

Bill Hopkin, Partner. A former Regional Manager for Farm Management Co., Bill is a resource manager at the highest level who has managed ranches in Utah, Texas, and Florida. Throughout his career, Bill has consistently demonstrated his ability to simultaneously enhance profitability and ecological sustainability through team leadership. A few of the many innovations pioneered during his career include using livestock grazing to increase both game and non-game wildlife habitat, forming public-private alliances to achieve management objectives, and creating environmentally adapted, low-cost livestock herds. Before retiring in 2005, Bill was directly responsible for more than 80 employees, 40,000 mother cows, and land assets worth several billion. (Resumé available upon request.)

Mark Kossler , Partner. Mark is a highly experienced large ranch manager, currently overseeing Ted Turner’s largest ranch, located in New Mexico. Mark previously managed Turner’s flagship Flying D ranch near Bozeman, Montana, where he substantially increased annual pre-tax profits. Mark has also managed the Crazy Mountain Guest Ranch, operated a commercial feedlot, and participated in significant timber harvests, oil and gas development, and endangered species programs. (Resumé available upon request.)

Charley Orchard, Partner. As the Founder of Land EKG® rangeland consulting firm, Charley’s innovative system for upland range monitoring is widely accepted by progressive ranchers and many agency personnel and has been effective at visually demonstrating trends in rangeland function and land health. Charley will oversee the land monitoring program and work with wildlife, aquatic, forest, and riparian biologists to develop equally effective tools for cost-effectively tracking ecological phenomena. Land EKG’s strengths are multi-format repeatability and easily accessible data storage, which can be seen at www.landekg.com.

Rob Peterson, Esq., Partner. Rob is a water law and real estate attorney who earned a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology and a master’s degree in Natural Resources focusing on public policy. A lifelong outdoorsman, Rob has worked for years in the outdoor recreation industry guiding fishing, hunting, and whitewater rafting from Alaska to the Grand Canyon.

Agee Smith, Partner. As a fifth-generation rancher in Elko County, Nevada, Agee has weathered ecological and environmental storms in an area rife with conflict. He and his family established one of the first and now longest lasting and most successful cooperative resource management (CRM) groups in the U.S. Comprised of agency personnel, environmentalists, and landowners, the group credits much of its success to the Smiths’ progressive efforts. They also operate a reputable outfitting enterprise and an acclaimed guest accommodation business.

David W. Glenn, MBA, PhD, is a highly respected business executive who owns ranches in Utah and Wyoming. From 1987 until 2003, Mr. Glenn was employed by Freddie Mac, the nation's second largest source of housing finance, where he served as Chief Financial Officer (1987-1989), President, Chief Operating Officer and member of the Board of Directors (1990-2003) and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors (2000-2003). From 1983 to 1987, Mr. Glenn held other senior executive positions in business and finance and has also taught in the business schools of several universities.

Fred Provenza, PhD, is an internationally known research scientist and educator whose ground-breaking research laid the foundations for what is now known as behavior-based management of livestock, wildlife and landscapes. Dr. Provenza spearheaded the formation of an international network of scientists and land managers from five continents. That consortium, known as BEHAVE (Behavioral Education for Human, Animal, Vegetation and Ecosystem Management www.behave.net), is committed to integrating behavioral principles and processes with local knowledge to enhance ecological, economic and social values of rural and urban communities and landscapes.

Kathleen Clarke is currently the Assistant Commissioner of the Utah Department of Agriculture and is the former National Director of the Bureau of Land Management. She has extensive experience in natural resource management issues and is respected for her efforts in building collaborative partnerships among federal, state, and tribal interests, local communities, and private organizations. Prior to going to Washington to lead the BLM, Ms. Clarke served as Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources in Utah. In that post she gained extensive experience in resource management issues and led the Department's efforts to build collaborative partnerships among federal, state and tribal interests, local communities and private organizations. A native of Bountiful, Utah, Ms. Clarke attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah, graduating cum laude with a BA degree in Political Science.