The Bitter Root Land Trust (BRLT), a nonprofit conservation organization that partners with voluntary private landowners to conserve Bitterroot open lands for future generations, has completed a conservation easement on the Durland family’s historic 183-acre ranch in Darby.
Situated at the corner of Highway 93 and Old Darby Road, the newly conserved ranch adds to more than 4,000 acres of completed and in-progress conservation easements in the Darby/Como corridor protected by local families in partnership with BRLT and partner conservation organizations. The ranch consists of productive, irrigated agricultural land for haying and cattle grazing, pristine wildlife habitat including grasslands, native rangeland, forest and riparian habitats, and scenic views of agricultural and open space from a variety of public roads.
Photo by Wide Angle Photography, courtesy of BRLT.
With its uniquely narrow location of the valley near the Bitterroot National Forest, the property serves as a key area for wildlife movement from the Bitterroot and Sapphire Mountain Ranges. The property is within Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks – designated winter range for both elk and mule deer, and the ranch’s rangelands, grasslands, shrublands, forest, and cottonwoods support wildlife including moose, black bears, and Species of Concern such as Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, and Lewis’ Woodpecker.
The siphon for the Bitterroot River Irrigation District’s Big Ditch is also located within the property, providing critical irrigation water from Lake Como to thousands of acres of agricultural lands in the valley below.
Originally purchased by Frank and Mary Cook in 1892, the great-great grandparents of current landowners Les Durland and siblings, the ranch has been operating for four generations and has played a significant role in the town of Darby’s history. The original dirt road leading to Lake Como winds through the property, which the Durland/Cook family allowed public access to travel for decades. At one time, the Darby Post Office operated out of the foyer of the home, and the family gifted a portion of the land across what is now Highway 93 to build the historic Como Schoolhouse. When the Big Ditch washed out in 1939, Larry Durland, father of Les Durland, was integral in helping to rebuild the ditch with horse and plow.
“When I suggested to my siblings, Larry, Marti and Melanie, that we consider putting a conservation easement on the ranch, we both agreed because it was important to us that it will always remain a ranch,” says Les Durland, one of the Lazy KD Ranch landowners. “We were fortunate that the Bitter Root Land Trust existed and was able to help achieve our goals.”
The recent closing of the Lazy KD Ranch conservation easement marks 15,212 acres of open land in the Bitterroot Valley conserved to date by BRLT and 70 local families.
“The Durland family has supported the community of Darby with their generosity since the beginning,” says Lauren Rennaker, BRLT Executive Director. “For Bitterroot landowners like the Durlands who have been stewards of working lands for more than 100 years, their legacy has shaped our community and our valley’s agricultural and ranching heritage that is critically important to protect. Thank you to Les and the Durland family for choosing to partner with BRLT to conserve your family ranch to benefit agricultural land, wildlife habitat, and open space for the future of this valley, and to the County Staff, County Commissioners and the Open Lands Bond Board for helping to bring this project across the finish line.”
With the newly completed conservation easement, a voluntary legal agreement that allows landowners to retain ownership and management of their property while protecting the property with certain development and use restrictions, the ranch will be protected from commercial or residential development in perpetuity to preserve habitat and agricultural land.
“The conservation easement tool that the Land Trust utilizes is just one of many tools in the conservation toolbox, and it has evolved significantly since its inception,” says BRLT Lands Director, Melissa Odell. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all model. Because all of the properties we work to conserve are unique, as are the conservation objectives of the landowner, we have the ability to customize conservation easements to best suit each project. That means landowners can choose to protect all or part of their property, giving them the option to allow for construction of a house, barn, fence, or other important agricultural structures down the line.”
The Lazy KD Ranch conservation easement was funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Agricultural Land Easement (ALE) program, landowner donation, and local bond dollars from the county-voted Ravalli County Open Lands Bond Program.
“We are grateful that the Durland family will always be a part of the Bitterroot Valley,” says Les Durland. “If not in person, definitely in mind.”
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