The Winecup-Gamble Ranch (the “Property” or the “Ranch”) is located in Northeastern Nevada at the Utah border, approximately 70 miles northeast of the City of Elko, Nevada.

The Property is comprised of approximately 250,000 acres of deeded land which is owned by Walker-Winecup Gamble, Inc. (“WWG”) and approximately 750,000 acres owned mostly by the US Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) and some of which is privately owned. WWG is entitled to full access of the BLM lands and the private lands through a grazing permit issued by the BLM. The usable site area (the grazing boundary) encompasses an area more than four times the size of the City of Phoenix—over 1,000,000 acres.

The Property has been operated as a cattle and sheep ranch since the late 1800s. Central Pacific Railroad laid the tracks for the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 and at one time the Property was operated by John Sparks who later became Governor of Nevada. The late actor Jimmy Stewart was also a previous owner of the Ranch. There are approximately 8,000 acres of railroad leases that also come with the Property. The cattle and ranch equipment are not included as part of the property for auction. They are, however, available for sale separately.

Currently, the Property is being operated as a ranch used for the grazing of livestock, primarily cattle. The Ranch, in its current condition will support a cow herd of 9,000.  With minimal improvements, the Ranch will support a year-round cow herd of 12,500.

The grazing capacity of the Ranch, as limited by the BLM grazing permit, could be significantly expanded depending on future ranch development including the irrigation of much of the area known as Thousand Springs Valley which is approximately 50 miles long.

There are a number of prospective land uses that, if implemented, could have a significant impact on the value of the Property. The Property is host to a wealth of natural resources. The most notable is a “proven source” of 60,000 acre feet of replenishable, usable ground water. An engineering study was recently performed in order to verify the existence of the 60,000 acre feet of water; the actual estimate, however, may be as high as 200,000 acre feet or more. There is sufficient water on the site to permit both the sale of water rights for public consumption and concurrently the operation of a 6,000 MW power generation plant. The water rights alone may hold the greatest potential for the future value of the Property. With the growing population and water supply concerns in Southern Nevada, the Property could be instrumental in alleviating future water concerns within the Las Vegas Valley. In Southern Nevada, for example, water rights are selling in the range of $15,000 to $25,000 per acre foot. The Southern Nevada Water Authority is currently in the process of extending water pipelines to rural parts of the state in order to fulfill future water needs. Please contact Sperry Van Ness if you would like more information about the plans to pipe rural water to Southern Nevada.

The Property has been considered a potential site for up to a 6,000 MW coal-fired, gas fired and/or nuclear-fueled electric power plant. Sierra Pacific Resources previously purchased the Property intending to develop a major power plant at the site. These plans were later abandoned and in 1993 Sierra Pacific sold the Property. Coal is readily available from nearby Western Coal Mines and could be brought in by a rail spur (located on the Property) and gas could be brought in by constructing a gas pipeline within the southern border of the ranch. Water from the site would be used for power plant cooling.

The movement within Congress and State Legislatures to require up to 20% of utilities power generation to come in the form of “Renewable Energy” will encourage development of alternative power sources to electricity. Among these include: 1) wind generation farms; 2) solar based generation; 3) biomass generation; and 4) geothermal energy. The environmental credits available and the current and future markets for “green power” sales to customers in the United States presents a potentially valuable economic opportunity to develop these alternative energy sources on the Property.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife calculates that a herd of approximately 1,080 elk migrate through and graze upon the Property. The Ranch is also home to antelope, mule deer and upland game. The Crittenden Reservoir, located on the Ranch, is highly rated as a fishing hole for trophy-size cutthroat trout and smallmouth bass. There are over 1,000 springs and wells on the Ranch. Approximately 300 of the natural springs are geothermal “hot springs.” Testing has also been conducted on the land by Western States Minerals to detect the presence of precious minerals. Western States owns certain mineral rights on the Property and indicates that the area is promising.

There are more “value creation” opportunities on the Property than those discussed above. A listing of some of the Property’s potential revenue sources is as follows:

Potential Revenue Sources