Jo Stanko was born on the front range of Colorado at a time when the Denver/Metro
area consisted of a series of small towns separated by open space provided by many
truck farms which sold meat, produce, and eggs directly to town dwellers. In the
summers, Jo and her siblings were free range children whose range included the
forests, mountains, streams and lakes including the west side of Rocky Mountain
National Park to Granby and Williams Fork.
It was during Jo’s Freshman year of college when her passion for open space grew to
include ranching. It was then r, a Education, English, Art student met and married a
History, Political Science student who happened to be a third generation of a ranching
family in Steamboat Springs. Through the years, Jo has been an active partner on the
ranch, in business, in the corral and on the tractor. Her retirement from teaching and
administration allowed Jo to participate in and advocate for agriculture beyond the local
level. On the national level, she served as a member of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board,
National Beef Spokesperson Team, Secretary for the National Cattlewomen’s
Association, Chairman of the Colorado Farm Services Committee and enumerator for
the National Ag Statistics Service. At the State level, she was a member of the Ag
Commission, served on committees for Colorado Cattlemen, Colorado Farm Bureau, an
chaired many committees for Colorado Cattlewomen as well as being President for
numerous terms. Over the last decades, the ranch has been celebrated as a century
ranch, honored as a state winner of the Aldo Leopold Conservation Award, and put
entirely under conservation easements. The transition to the next generation is almost
complete.