GUNNISON COUNTY — Billionaires by definition have money. But as Bill Koch is showing locals on the Western Slope, billionaires can also have hobbies on a grand scale.

And the echoes of Koch’s wonderful Western world now under construction on his Bear Ranch are being heard in Delta, Gunnison and Pitkin counties.

Koch’s activities in the region are centered on his latest obsession, building an “authentic” Western town in a former pasture at the base of the incredibly scenic Ragged Mountains, about 12 miles up Highway 133 from Paonia and just east of Paonia Reservoir.

His luxury Western town includes a train station, a livery station, a saloon, a bunkhouse, a firehouse and two large Victorian-style homes.

It’s part Dodge City, part Neverland.

For some, such as carpenters and other building professionals eager for work, the Bear Ranch project means a good paycheck working on a big project. But for others, it means watching the exercise of political will at the expense of access to public lands.

“I don’t have a problem with billionaires,” said Dave Shinn, a local fishing guide on the nearby Gunnison River. “But you just never know what they’re going to do.”

That’s especially true with Koch’s private town, which will not be open to the public.

Employees have to sign confidentiality agreements. There is 24/7 surveillance on the worksite.

But the sprawling Bear Ranch still isn’t quite big — or private — enough for Koch, who began buying his land near the Raggeds Wilderness in 2007. He wants Gunnison County to give up a public road running through BLM land that separates his two big parcels. And he wants to trade the BLM property for land he owns elsewhere in Colorado and Utah.

To make it happen, Koch recently put together a revised a federal land swap proposal, which the Gunnison County Commissioners unanimously endorsed on Tuesday. It was a critical step, as members of Congress rarely vote for land swaps not endorsed by local officials.

Koch’s first proposed land swap was introduced in 2010 in the House by former Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, who quickly had it hung around his neck by opponents as being a favor for a billionaire campaign donor.

Forbes put Kochs’ net worth this year at $3.5 billion.

His twin brother David and his older brother Charles became well-known in the last election cycle for raising big money to support conservative causes and union-busting politicians.

But Bill Koch’s politics seem more pragmatic than polemical.

Campaign contributionsMost of his personal contributions, and those from his private company, Oxbow, are directed at Republicans — most recently House Speaker John Boehner.

But through the years, he’s also given donations to John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Al Gore.

Perhaps relevant to Bear Ranch, he’s also recently given contributions to all three incumbent Delta County commissioners, Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, and Democratic Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennett.

One thing that Bill, David and Charles Koch (pronounced “coke”) do have in common is a taste for luxury homes in Aspen. In 1992, Charles and David each paid about $2.5 million for nearby houses in Aspen’s lovely West End — just steps from the Music Tent.

Then in 2007, Bill one-upped his brothers and spent $51 million on four properties in the upper Castle Creek valley south of Aspen, including the 17,000-square-foot Elk Mountain Lodge building near the ghost town of Ashcroft.

It was here that Bill Koch’s cowboy obsession first slipped into view, as he sued his interior decorator for not making the decor in the renovated lodge quite Western enough. They later settled.

During a June auction in Denver, Koch tipped his Western-obsessed hand again, paying $2.3 million at auction for the only known, authenticated photograph of outlaw Billy the Kid.

“The fact that it got that high really floored a lot of us,” said Steve Friesen, curator for the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave on Lookout Mountain, who observed the bidding.

“He’s an avid fan of the Old West,” Friesen said. “He’s not buying this stuff as an investment. I believe he’s buying it for the sheer love of it.”

Koch’s collection now fills a warehouse in Paonia. His Western town is designed to be both a showcase for valuable memorabilia — one building is designated as a museum — and a self-contained enclave with a state-approved private water treatment plant with two 60,000 gallon underground tanks.

Gunnison County has issued permits for 50 buildings on Bear Ranch, two of them in excess of 11,000 square feet.

The locals have noticed.

Tony Prendergast watched on a balmy afternoon this summer as a deconstructed home on a flatbed truck cruised by his place in nearby Crawford.

“Every once in awhile, I see a building all wrapped up, heading to the property,” Prendergast said.

Some of the old wooden structures hail from the defunct Buckskin Joe attraction outside Canon City that hosted mock shootouts and hangings. Koch bought the former movie-set buildings and Royal Gorge Scenic Railroad in September 2010 for $3.1 million. One ranch laborer opined that Koch wants the public road abandoned so he can install the railway on a relatively level alignment.

Whatever Koch’s ultimate vision is for his new town, many are just happy he has one, and is willing to spend his money to make it reality.

As construction activity in the Roaring Fork Valley slowed over the last three years, many tradesmen packed up their tools and joined the burgeoning staff of carpenters and electricians building Koch’s western town.

Indirect benefits from Koch’s world extend to North Fork Valley Airport manager Mike Clawson, who has been able to make improvements thanks to increased business from the Koch and his Bear Ranch visitors.

“He contributes a lot to the local economy,” said Clawson, who leases a hanger to Koch for his private helicopter, used for the 25-minute flight from Aspen. The billionaire boon has allowed Clawson to buy a courtesy car and add a new picnic structure for airport users.

Koch’s greatest economic influence in the region, however, is via the Elk Creek Mine in nearby Somerset. The mine is part of Koch’s Oxbow group. Local radio and newspaper ads trumpet that Oxbow is here “for the long haul,” and tout the mine’s financial contributions to the valley, which they say total around $90 million.

Through a spokesman, Koch declined several requests to talk about his plans and his Western Colorado holdings. Spokesman Brad Goldstein noted that “Mr. Koch is a private citizen.”

That may be, but he needs an act of Congress before he can ride off into his own Western sunset.

The first bill he spurred into Congress was called the Central Rockies Land Exchange and National Park System Enhancement Act of 2010. The bill didn’t make it out of committee before Salazar lost to Republican Scott Tipton.

Bear Ranch land swap”When Salazar didn’t get re-elected, that was sort of the natural shelving of the thing,” said Hap Channell, one of three Gunnison County commissioners who endorsed the land swap this week. “And it caused Bear Ranch to go back and try to sweeten the deal a little bit.”

Koch initially proposed trading about 990 acres of land he owns on the Sapinero Mesa, near Blue Mesa reservoir in Gunnison County, and Dinosaur National Monument, near Vernal, Utah, for the 1,800 acres of BLM land surrounding his Bear Ranch parcels, including land provides access to the wilderness along Deep Creek.

In response to critics that the acreage was 2-for-1 in favor of Koch and of little benefit to North Fork Valley residents, Koch is committed to buying the $3.2 million Buck Creek Ranch up the valley from Bear Ranch, and has proposed assisting in the planning and construction of several trail projects. But Deep Creek isn’t just any trail, say detractors who also worry about what they see could be a precedent-setting decision.

“The public lands are the heart of democracy in the interior West,” said Ed Marston, the retired publisher of High Country News. “And if Koch succeeds in turning the Ragged Mountain basin into an access-blocked extension of his estate, that will be a very bad sign.”

Annie Rickenbaugh, a member of Pitkin County’s Open Space and Trails Board, was initially wary of the land swap — primarily for the lack of a public process and a two-for-one exchange favoring the private citizen. She’s more amenable to the new proposal, which includes additional acreage for public use, yet remains bothered by a trend of billionaires “who buy their privacy at the expense of public access.”

On the open space board, she argued against another potential public land swap near Carbondale involving billionaire retail magnate Leslie Wexner. That deal fell apart when Pitkin County refused to endorse it. Now, Wexner is working directly with officials at BLM in an effort to remove the public land that splits his ranch.

Meanwhile, just north of Bear Ranch, retired homebuilder Joe Zanin enjoys the big views of the Raggeds. He supports Koch’s land swap, and feels that neither Koch nor Wexner were given a fair shake by elected officials and the public.

A Rotarian and church volunteer, Zanin doesn’t get upset about a lot these days but will speak up against what he feels is undue criticism of his neighbor.

“I’ve built four houses for billionaires,” Zanin said. “Do you know why they do it? Because they can.” Zanin said.

Madeline Osberger is a reporter for Aspen Journalism, an independent nonprofit news organization working in the public interest.

Political contributions

Bill Koch’s political contributions don’t follow a straight party line and instead appear to target candidates on a case-by-case basis.

According to Open Secrets, which tracks campaign donations, most of Koch’s campaign donations from himself or through groups tied to Oxbow, are sent to Republicans.

But he’s also contributed to many prominent Democrats. Here’s a list of some of his contributions, both as an individual and through his political action committee, Oxbow Carbon Mineral Holdings, Inc., and party affiliations:

Tom Daschle (D), $2,000 in 2004

Jay Rockefeller (D), $1,000 in 2002

Tom Harkin (D), $1,000 in 2002

Hillary Clinton (D), $1,000 in 1999

Ted Kennedy (D), $1,000 in 1999

Al Gore (D), $1,000 in 1999

John Hickenlooper (D), $1,525 (plus $525 through Oxbow)

Bill Ritter (D), $500

Oxbow also contributed $525 to Hickenlooper’s campaign.

Rep. Scott Tipton (R), $3,500

John Salazar (D), $13,600 (plus $10,000 from Oxbow in 2009)

Mark Udall (D), $4,600 in 2008

Ken Salazar (D), $2,300 in 2008 (but Salazar appears to have returned that money)

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D), $2,500 in 2010

In addition, all three Delta County commissioners, Republicans Douglas Atchley, Olen Lund and Bruce Hovde, have received contributions ranging from $500 to $1,500 from either the Oxbow PAC or Oxbow Mining LLC.

And Walker Stapleton, the state’s treasurer representing the Republican Party, received $1,050 from the Oxbow PAC in 2009.

— Madeleine Osberger