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Non-profit

Windstar Foundation

Website:

www.wstar.org
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Formation:

1976
President:

Ron Deutschendorf

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The Windstar Foundation is a former left-of-center environmentalist organization founded by country artist and songwriter John Denver. 1 The Windstar Foundation operated a 1,000-acre nature conservancy in Snowmass, Colorado, which it used as an environmentalist activism incubation center. 2

Background

The Windstar Foundation was created by country artist and songwriter John Denver in 1976, initially by purchasing 94.8 acres of land in 1978, followed by an adjoining 863 acres in 1979. 3

Activities

The Windstar Foundation conservancy included farmland, gardens, demonstration solar panels, and dormitories with the intent that individuals could take the environmentalist lessons they received back to their communities. 4

In addition to activities on-site, between 1986 and 1996 the foundation hosted annual conferences attended by environmentalist activists and academics. The foundation states that these conferences in many ways resemble today’s Aspen Institute Ideas Festival. 5

By 1994 the Windstar Foundation was in financial trouble. 6 The annual cost of operating the conservancy had ballooned to $2 million. 7 John Denver’s manager, Hal Thau, considered the foundation an unsustainable money sink and eventually convinced Denver to scale back operations of the foundation. 8

To address growing expenses and liabilities, the National Wildlife Federation purchased half of the foundation’s property and began to subsidize the foundation’s expenses. 9 In 1995, National Wildlife Federation could no longer take on the foundation’s expenses, and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) stepped into its place and purchased National Wildlife Federation’s interest in the property with financial support provided by the county government. 10

In 2004, RMI began plans to move into the Windstar Foundation properties and convert the space into its headquarters, but the plan was met with opposition from the community and Pitkin County, which argued the expanded roads and construction would damage the pristine and untouched condition of the environment and increase traffic. 11 RMI and the county agreed that the organization would move onto the property but on a far smaller scale than RMI originally envisioned. 12

Sale of Property

Rocky Mountain Institute and Windstar Foundation sold the conservancy in 2012 for $8.5 million to Five Farm LLC. 13  The Windstar Foundation contributed the proceeds of the sale to the Aspen Community Foundation. 14 Five Farm LLC is a corporation tied to billionaire Jeff Hildebrand, the founder and CEO of Hilcorp Energy Co., an oil and gas production company, who owned a ranch adjacent to the Windstar land through a separate LLC. 15

References

  1. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  2. “Mission” Windstar. https://www.wstar.org/mission/
  3. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  4. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  5. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  6. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  7. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  8. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  9. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  10. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  11. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  12. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  13. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  14. Gardner-Smith, Brent “The Windstar property and John Denver’s legacy in question” Aspen Journal. October 12, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2022.https://aspenjournalism.org/windstar-property-for-sale-john-denver-legacy-in-question/
  15. Gardner-Smith, Brent. “LLC that bought Windstar land has tie to Houston oil billionaire” Aspen Daily News. June 14, 2013. Accessed October 16, 2022. https://www.aspendailynews.com/llc-that-bought-windstar-land-has-tie-to-houston-oil-billionaire/article_64127641-56ea-519b-91e6-a271dddf1fe7.html
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