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.

Bill Hopkin. 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.

Mark Kossler. Mark is a highly experienced large ranch manager, currently managing a large ranch in New Mexico. Mark has also managed large ranches in Montana, operated a commercial feedlot, and partcipated in significant timber harvests, oil and gas development, and endangered species programs.

Nicole McCoy, PhD. 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.

Rick Danvir. 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.

Charley Orchard. 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. 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. 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.

 

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