Controversial real estate speculator alone in the wilderness

Real-estate speculator Tom Chapman has long thrived on threats. His threats to bulldoze roads for a community on the rim of Black Canyon along the Gunnison River. Threats to build helicopter-access luxury homes in the heart of wilderness areas. Threats to burn down famed mining structures to make room for mansions. Threats to close off recreational access. Over the years, federal and local officials have caved and paid his price before anything gets built. This time, he has moved beyond brinkmanship and built a 4,700-square-foot luxury home, now for sale, on 33 acres atop the south rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Last week, he sold 79 acres inside the park to an out-of-state buyer in an undisclosed deal. The Black Canyon home marks Chapman's return, after a break of several years, to high- end, high-stakes development on islands within public land. He's foreclosing on a conservation-minded buyer who acquired 19 of Chapman's wilderness parcels in Colorado in 2007 and says he will again market the remote acres as home sites. He also vows to block skiers and hikers on land he owns in a popular backcountry drainage next to Telluride ski area...more