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Sue Anschutz-Rodgers
Inducted 2008
As a girl, Sue Anschutz defied gender stereotypes
by learning to wrangle horses, brand cattle, and bale hay from
the ranch hands on her father’s ranch in South Park. In 1987,
Sue Anschutz-Rodgers, now a divorced, single parent of three girls,
took control of the family’s Crystal River Ranch near Carbondale,
Colorado. She systematically learned the details of the cattle-ranching
business, starting with just one bull and 33 cows, to grow it to
a thriving herd of 1,700. She represents the long tradition of
women operating ranching and agricultural businesses in Colorado,
proving that women are men’s equals in meeting the formidable
physical, financial, and organizational challenges posed by ranching.
Anschutz-Rodgers has parlayed her expertise in the cattle-ranching
business into efforts to ensure not only the success of her own
ranch but to save the ranching tradition throughout Colorado and
the American West. She led the effort to develop an innovative
agreement known as a conservation easement, which sets aside acreage
on which development by future owners will be precluded, in exchange
for tax incentives and estate-planning benefits. She helped establish
and has continuously served on the board of the Colorado Cattlemen’s
Agricultural Land Trust, the leading advocate and resource for
voluntary preservation of ranchland for future generations.
As a professional philanthropist, Anschutz-Rodgers has made a
permanent mark on Colorado communities, especially in underserved
rural areas. She has served as Chair and President of the Anschutz
Family Foundation since its inception in 1982. The Foundation “supports
nonprofit organizations that assist people to help themselves while
nurturing and preserving their self-respect,” funding more
than 5,000 grants to organizations that include Denver Indian Family
Resource Center; Special Olympics; Durango Latino Education Coalition;
Cortez Cultural Center; Mile High Housing Fund; Women’s Wilderness
Institute; and Meals on Wheels programs throughout Colorado. Anschutz-Rodgers
instituted Colorado Rural Philanthropy Days to encourage other
funders to contribute to rural nonprofits.
In 2006, Sue Anschutz-Rodgers became the first woman to win in
her own right the National Western Stock Show’s Citizen of
the West award, given to the person who “exemplifies the
spirit and determination of the Western pioneer.” She continues
to serve the people of Colorado and the world on boards such as
the Colorado Conservation Trust, Denver Police Foundation, Jane
Goodall Institute, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Lewa Wildlife
Conservancy of Kenya (USA), and Crow Canyon Archeological Center.
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