Meet our Team
Chrissy McFarren - Owner, Director & Ranch Mentor - wife of Dave: I am passionate about ranching and farming and deeply humbled to be a steward of the land. I love creating healthy environments for all the animals (domestic and wild) that call the ranch their home, and I love being witness to the joy people have when they are at the ranch. Riding, moving cattle, caring for livestock, community, working outside, creating art, family and grandchildren are where I find joy.
Gregory Clark - Main Ranch Mentor: My passion is working with and being around horses, as well as people that share the same values - family, horses, and conservation efforts to keep this world going for generations to come. After being a guest at the ranch in 2017 and spending a working week here in 2019, joining the team is a dream come true for me.
Walter Thut - Ranch Maintenance Mentor: I always dreamed of working on a ranch. My wife and I were guests at Badger Creek Ranch over the last several years, and I had the thought of working there. After retiring in 2022 I contacted Chrissy and Dave to see if they needed help. They invited me to join them for the 2022 season. My wife Kathy and I moved from Chicago to Cotopaxi in the spring of 2023 so we could continue to be involved with Badger Creek Ranch.
Dave McFarren - Owner & Mentor - husband of Chrissy: At the ranch I’m the back-office guy: doing the books, managing the meat inventory, and maintaining the equipment. But I also love entertaining the guests on “music night” with my singing and sax and keyboard playing (in a former life I was in a wedding/bar-mitzvah band). I also love interacting with customers and being the face of BCR at the farmers markets where we sell our meats and eggs.
Brian Aitken - Soil Health Monitor Volunteer - husband of Andrea Evers-Aitken: Call me Bacon. This land has a natural and human history that is rich and humbling. My work at the ranch is tied to my love of the Rocky Mountain West, my interest in land conservation, and my desire to be outdoors in this landscape at every opportunity. (Click on Brian’s photo for “Drawings and Imaginings”)
Andrea Evers-Aitken - LLC Member and Chrissy's sister - wife of Brian Aitken: I am an avid fly fisherman, and the sport has led me to some of the most beautiful places on our earth, including Badger Creek Ranch.
Our 2024 Interns
Emma Lucas - Over the last ten years, I have had the privilege of working as a wrangler and packer in national parks all over the west. Historic preservation and land management and conservation are topics that are tremendously dear to my heart. I think Ulysses S. Grant‘s idea to “set apart a certain tract of land lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park” is my single favorite human inspiration. I am deeply committed to cultural heritage and providing experiences where people can interact with practices from our past, because those experiences are the building blocks to our future. Continuing to pursue my passions in horsemanship and stockmanship while working with Full Circle Alliance at Badger Creek Ranch to learn about regenerative agriculture is a dream within a dream. I can’t wait to get started.
Emily Pash - Hello, my name’s Emily, I’m 18 years old from the UK and I’m really excited to take part in the intern program at Badger Creek Ranch this summer! It will be a cool adventure visiting a different country and meeting new people, and I’m looking forward to learning how to ride western having ridden English my whole life. I’m about to study Biology at university and I’m interested in sustainability and ecology, so it will be great learning more about the regenerative agricultural practices at the ranch. I love exploring new places and experiencing new cultures, I can’t wait to see the beautiful wildlife in Colorado and visit local historic sites.
