The Burnt Fork of the Bitterroot has become a hot spot for placement of Conservation Easements in Ravalli County with some help from the county’s Open Lands Bond program. Last week, the County Commissioners gave preliminary approval to use funds from the program to help place two new conservation easements on the Hancock and Griffin Ranches, located a few miles east of Stevensville up the Burnt Fork.
The $10 million Open Lands Bond was approved by the voters in 2006 to help conserve open spaces, working farms, wildlife habitat and water resources. According to Bitter Root Land Trust Executive Director Gavin Ricklefs, over $4 million of the funds have been used to help establish conservation easements on over 6,000 acres of land in the county with an appraised value of $16 million.
Funding for the projects also comes from other sources, like the federal farm program aimed at preserving active ranches and farms and, in the case of easements on the Burnt Fork, the Friends of the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge has contributed over $100,000 to the Bitterroot Land Trust’s efforts in that area alone. The landowners also cover a share of the cost.
The latest Conservation Easements to be approved for OLB funds on the Burnt Fork are the Hancock and Griffin ranches.
The Hancock Ranch, located approximately 4 miles east of the Town of Stevensville off of Middle Burnt Fork Road, is comprised of one parcel totaling approximately 79 acres. The conservation easement is proposed to conserve the 74.5 acres below the Big Ditch. The majority of the property consists of irrigated and sub-irrigated pasture land, and is bisected by two creeks with the Big Ditch running through the northeasterly portion of the property. The property within the easement contains a single-family residence with accessory buildings on the easterly side of the middle of the property. There will be a two-acre building envelope around the existing buildings. The Hancock residence is located in the northeast corner of the property which is not being included in the easement. There will only be the two residences allowed on the property. The ranch supports 25 cow/calf pairs and produces about 2 to 3 tons of hay on a 30-acre pasture irrigated by sprinklers.
The property’s values proposed for conservation include agricultural lands, wildlife habitat, scenic open space, and proximity to other conservation easements and state and federal lands. The Hancocks purchased the property in 1972 and it has been primarily a cattle ranch since.
The area surrounding the Hancock Ranch is primarily large residential, agricultural land, scenic open space, and other conservation easement lands. Existing, nearby conservation easement properties include Severson’s Flying E Ranch, Sunset Bench Ranch, Laursen Ranch, Farrell Ranch, Lazy Burnt Fork Ranch (all held by Bitter Root Land Trust), located in the Burnt Fork Drainage. Other easements include Olmsted Ranch (Montana Land Reliance) and Burnt Fork Ranch (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation), further north and east.
Ricklefs said the land provides seasonal elk habitat on the open grassland as well as bird habitat on the open land and along the riparian areas as well as in the pond that is also used for irrigation. The easement is valued at $168,535 and the commissioners’ approved the use of $100,000 from the OLB program to meet those costs.
The Griffin Ranch, located approximately 4 miles east of the Town of Stevensville off of Middle Burnt Fork Road, is comprised of two parcels totaling approximately 202 acres. The conservation easement is proposed to conserve all 200+ acres. The majority of the property consists of irrigated and sub-irrigated pasture land, and is bisected by several creeks. The property contains a single-family residence with a large barn and other accessory buildings in the northeast corner of the property to the west of the driveway (3.5 acres). There is also a barn in the middle of the property where the Griffins have temporarily set up living quarters and plan to build their residence in the future (5 acres). There will only be the two residences allowed on the property.
The property’s values proposed for conservation include agricultural lands, wildlife habitat, scenic open space, and proximity to other conservation easements and state and federal lands. The Griffins purchased the north part of the property in 2015 and added the southern part in 2017. The property had been neglected for several years and the Griffins have worked at fixing and maintaining a productive ranching and agricultural operation.
The value of the easement comes to about $438,910. $200,000 was approved from the Open Lands Bond program and will be used to match $200,000 in federal grant money. The property owners will contribute the remaining $38,910.
Public comment on the funding proposals was in total support of the projects.