James Lane grew up knowing the land costs something. His family has worked in Archuleta County since the 1940s — he is a fourth-generation rancher in Allison, Colorado, where he and his wife of 32 years have raised their two children and kept the place running through drought years, market swings, and everything the high country throws at a working operation.

For the past 30 years, James has been an electrical and control systems engineer. His experience spans hydroelectric, nuclear power, solar, battery storage, oil and gas, and industrial systems. He has worked alongside Fortune 500 operations teams, served at BP, and mediated high-stakes technical disputes where the cost of being wrong was measured in millions of dollars.

He is the person you call when a system is in transition — someone who can clearly explain what is happening to a C-suite, a field crew, or a neighbor at the barber shop.

He also understands cooperative governance from the inside. He has served on the Pine River Canal Company board, managing real fiduciary responsibility involving water and money. He also served as President of the Mt. Allison Volunteer Fire Department and volunteered with the Los Pinos Fire Department.

He and his wife share the ranch with five dogs and six barn cats.

He is not a politician. He does not have a political background, a party affiliation, or an ideological agenda.

He is a neighbor who knows what he is doing — and believes your cooperative deserves that right now.