A vast 880 acres of pipeline magnate Kelcy Warren’s Boot Jack Ranch outside Pagosa Springs will go to the San Juan National Forest to fulfill a land swap agreement with the federal government.

Boot Jack Ranch, a 3,151-acre tract, is surrounded on three sides by the San Juan National Forest and Weminuche Wilderness. The space includes 7 miles of the West Fork of the San Juan River and Wolf Creek.

In exchange, the U.S. Forest Service will give 379 acres of public land to Warren, co-founder and executive chairman of Dallas-based company Energy Transfer. Warren will also get $30,000 from the U.S. Forest Service.

The 880 acres going over to the San Juan National Forest is a part of Warren’s 3,151-acre-ranch, which he purchased for $47 million from San Jose developer David Brown and his wife in 2010. It was initially listed for $88 million.

The expanse of land is valued at $3.08 million, which is $30,000 more than the value of the public land. Since the Forest Service requires an exchange of equal value within a 25% margin, it has to pay the difference between the values of the two properties.

If the land exchange had not been approved, Warren would have developed Valle Seco into an elk farm and hunting lodge, according to an environmental assessment by the Forest Service. The pipeline tycoon, who ranked 728th on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List in 2022, also planned to apply for year-round motorized access.

Acquiring Warren’s land (Valle Seco) will help protect an important elk and mule deer habitat, according to the Forest Service. The agency explained that it would prevent the parcel’s development, which may have happened if it had stayed under private ownership.

The public land Warren will receive in return is part of a designated roadless area that forms a barrier against the edge of the South San Juan Wilderness area. The area was kept roadless so to ensure that big game could migrate smoothly through the area without causing traffic issues.

Some conservation groups, including Colorado Wild Public Lands (COWPL) — worried over details including whether Warren will transfer his development plans to the public land once the exchange is completed — requested an extension of the public comment period on the land swap. However, the Forest Service denied the extension.

COWPL sought access to the appraisal documents for the properties. When the Forest Service did not grant the access, the group sued the agency, prompting a release of the records.

Still, Land Report News said Warren was expected to keep the Boot Jack intact.

“We hoped that the buyer would be an end user who would really want to preserve that valley,” said listing broker Bill Fandel of Sotheby’s International Realty in Telluride. “That’s definitely the case.”