Buchanan Ranch Airport

As a private airport owned and operated by Buchanan Ranches Inc., the closure was a decision made by the landowner. The specific reasons are not publicly documented but are typically related to a change in the owner's needs, such as cessation of aviation activities, sale of the property, increased liability or insurance costs, or the owner/pilot retiring. There is no evidence to suggest the closure was due to an accident, military conversion, or external economic pressures.

The site at coordinates 47.430199, -111.459999 is currently agricultural and grazing land, fully re-integrated into the surrounding ranch. Satellite imagery shows the faint, overgrown outline of the former east-west runway. The land is unmaintained for aviation purposes and is not distinguishable from the adjacent fields except for the faint scar of the old airstrip. There are no remaining airport facilities.

Buchanan Ranch Airport was a private-use airfield with no significant public or military history. Its sole purpose was to serve the transportation and operational needs of the large, privately-owned Buchanan Ranch. It featured a single turf/dirt runway, designated 9/27, with a length of approximately 2,600 feet. Operations would have consisted of light, single-engine aircraft used for personal transportation for the ranch owners and managers, aerial surveying of the vast property and livestock, and potentially light cargo transport. Its existence was typical for large, remote ranches in the American West, providing crucial air access before being rendered obsolete or unnecessary.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Buchanan Ranch Airport. As it was a private airfield, any initiative to reopen would have to come from the current landowner. Given its official permanent closure status with the FAA and the visible reclamation of the land, the likelihood of it ever being used as an airport again is extremely low.