Land lover, former-lawmaker Pat O’Toole dies at 75

Little Snake River Valley rancher and conservationist Patrick Francis O’Toole died Feb. 25, 2024, at age 75 of complications following a stroke. He was loved and respected in the agricultural and natural resource communities.

Pat was born Dec. 6, 1948, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to James Francis O’Toole and Mary Ann Mooney O’Toole. He was proud of his roots, often recounting how all four of his grandparents had immigrated from Ireland to Pittsburgh. When Pat was 3 years old, his family moved to Hialeah, Florida.

Pat grew up swimming, surfing and, most of all, running. He attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School, alongside his friend Pete Antonacci, his partner in testing the patience of the nuns. He attended Hialeah High School, the largest high school in the U.S., where he excelled in academics, track and cross-country. He ran a four-and-a-half minute mile, but loved distance running. He attended Arkansas State University, Miami-Dade Junior College and Florida State University on track scholarships. Pat and his friend Pete hitchhiked from Maine to Florida, having many adventures along the way and missing Woodstock by one exit.

The West called and Pat moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where he attended Colorado State University. He met his wife Sharon Salisbury while both were working at The Collegian newspaper. It was there he made life-long friends with the self-named “Porky Dogs.”  

Pat graduated from Colorado State University with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in 1975. He and Sharon married on September 28, 1975. That winter they traveled throughout South America. This included traveling by beer and cookie cargo boat 1,500 miles down the Amazon River; celebrating “the People’s Carneval” in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; visiting Sharon’s sister on a cattle ranch in Brazil; being accosted by a machine-gun toting policeman in Argentina during a revolution; almost getting arrested in Tierra del Fuego (same revolution); and flying in a cargo plane carrying baby chicks.

When they arrived safely home, much to their parents’ relief, they began their life’s work on the Ladder Ranch, along the Wyoming/Colorado border. It has been in Sharon’s family since 1881. Pat liked to say that the ranch raises “cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and children.” They were accepted at University of Wyoming’s Law School, but decided instead to buy old ewes and embark on a life of animal husbandry. They lived for eight winters in a cabin without electricity or running water, and summers in camps as they herded their own sheep.

In 1978, daughter Meghan Lynne was born, followed by Bridget Emma in 1980 and son Patrick Eamon in 1985. Anyone who knew Pat knew of his deep love for his family. He never separated his work life and his family life, drafting them into his projects and passions.

In 1986, Pat was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives, where he served for six years representing Carbon County. He became known for his gift of working with people in all walks of life, diverse viewpoints and differing political views. He was never partisan, always trying to do the right thing. Next, he was appointed by President Clinton to the Western Water Policy Commission, looking at the future of water in the West. He wrote the dissenting report defending food production and irrigation. This led him to the Family Farm Alliance — an organization representing irrigators in 11 Western states. He served as its president from 2005 until his death. He also proudly served as a board member of several agricultural and conservation groups, including a stint as Chair of the Intermountain West Joint Venture (migratory birds) and Partnerscapes, which helped with a fishery and irrigation project on Ladder Ranch’s Battle Creek. 

He cared deeply about the Colorado River, and was influential in protecting irrigated agriculture, migratory bird habitat, and tribal rights. He was a board member of The Yampa-White-Green Rivers Basin Roundtable, which works on solutions for water issues in Colorado. He participated in many advocacy groups, both private and public, always speaking out for farmers, ranchers and rural communities.

Pat worked tirelessly to protect his beloved Western landscapes. He and the Ladder Ranch family have been widely recognized for their conservation work and ethic.

In 2014, Ladder Ranch received the prestigious Leopold Conservation Award, sponsored by the Sand County Foundation and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association.

In 2016, Pat received the Kurt Bucholtz Conservation Award from the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust, in recognition of work on water and conservation issues in Wyoming.

At the time of his death, he was leading a big project — Headwaters of the Colorado. Pat brought together a coalition of diverse stakeholders with the goal of restoring the stressed landscapes of the Routt and Medicine Bow National forests and the contiguous Yampa and Little Snake watersheds. It will be his lasting legacy.

He loved the land, but he loved his family completely.

He is survived by his wife, Sharon, his three children, Meghan O’Toole Lally (Brian), Bridget O’Toole (Chris Abel) and Patrick Eamon O’Toole (Megan). His six grandchildren were the absolute light of his life. He leaves Siobhan, Seamus, Maeve and Tiarnan Lally and Patrick McCoy O’Toole and Rhen O’Toole.

He is also survived by his sister Mary Lynne O’Toole Lidstone, his niece Sherri Salisbury Marthaller, his nephews Bill Moree, Joe Salisbury, Christian Gros, Kevin Lidstone, James Lidstone and John Lidstone. He also leaves many cousins in Florida and Pennsylvania, and a plethora of close friends.

Pat was predeceased by his parents, Jim and Marie O’Toole; his in-laws George and Laura Salisbury, his buddy Pete Antonacci, and several friends.

A celebration of life will be held at the Ladder Ranch in July 2024, date to be announced.

The family asks that donations be made to the Family Farm Alliance, Box 216, Klamath Falls, OR 97601 or the Little Snake River EMS, Box 275, Baggs, WY, 82321.

Editor’s note: This obituary has been updated with a new address for the Family Farm Alliance based on a request from the family.