A fourth-generation family ranch is conserved in perpetuity through a conservation easement finalized in partnership with landowner Marlene Bolin and the Bitter Root Land Trust (BRLT).
Located on Ambrose Creek northeast of Stevensville, the newly conserved 166-acre Bolin Ranch marks a corner piece of the family property that has been actively farmed since 1935, raising hay, grain (barley and wheat), cattle, horses, pigs, chickens and pastureland. The mix of irrigated pastures, native grasslands, forest patches, woody draws, and riparian habitat along Ambrose Creek serves as excellent habitat for an abundance of wildlife, including winter elk range, moose, deer, golden eagle, great blue heron, and monarch butterfly.
Bolin Ranch, northeast of Stevensville. Photo courtesy of Bitter Root Land Trust.
With a perpetual conservation easement now in place, future development is restricted on the property, keeping it intact for wildlife and current and future agricultural practices. As with all conservation easements, the agreement transfers with the title of the property, even when it changes ownership in the future.
Landowner Marlene Bolin and her late husband, Ivan Roy, Jr., first started conversations with the Bitter Root Land Trust about protecting the ranch seven years ago.
“My husband Ivan was a big proponent of the conservation easement,” says Marlene. “It has taken a lot of patience and endurance to get the ranch where it is today. Ranching is a lifestyle. It’s not an occupation and it’s not always easy. It gives me a sense of relief, knowing the ranch is protected now.”
The project was made possible with funding received from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Agricultural Land Easement (ALE) program and the Ravalli County Open Lands Bond Program.
“This new easement marks a cornerstone of many years in the making of neighboring landowners coming together to conserve a very special and critical area for wildlife and agriculture in the valley. We are honored to have played a role in helping the Bolin family preserve the final corner of their legacy ranch,” says Melissa Odell, BRLT’s Lands Director. “Because of Marlene and Ivan’s foresight and commitment, this place will forever be here for future generations of Bitterroot agricultural producers. We are so thankful to Marlene for her gift to the community.”
In the 1990’s, Marlene’s parents, Ernie and Bessie Bolin, worked with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) to place a conservation easement on 5,204 acres of the family’s Bolin Ranches – land located adjacent to the east of Marlene’s 166-acre Bolin Ranch. The early conservation easement is directly connected to two additional conservation easements completed in partnership with local landowners and Montana FWP: the Lewis Conservation Easement, and the Brown Valley Family Ranch Conservation Easement, and is south of the Threemile Wildlife Management Area (WMA) owned by the State of Montana and managed by FWP. Together, the neighboring conserved lands protect more than 13,000 acres of open lands and critical elk winter habitat, with the recent 166-acre conservation easement marking the latest addition.
“Bitter Root Land Trust is honored to carry on the conservation legacy of Marlene and the Bolin family well into the future,” says Lauren Rennaker, BRLT Executive Director. “Their longtime legacy signifies generations of dedication and commitment to conserving what makes our valley so special. We are so fortunate that the Bolins, and our community, value an agricultural and conservation legacy hand-in-hand.”
Across the valley in Victor, Ivan’s brother, Danny Roy, also placed a conservation easement on their fourth-generation legacy ranch, Roy Ranch, conserving 176 acres in perpetuity on Victor’s westside. The conservation easement was completed in partnership with BRLT in 2024 before Danny’s passing.
“As I have watched since the passing of my parents and the subsequent division and sale of much of this awesome place I’ve called home for 65 years, I had no doubt as to what I needed to do,” says landowner Marlene. “It’s these easements that arise from something deep within a landowner’s heart. It was my desire to preserve the history of my family’s generations and protect the land God has entrusted to us that drove me to want the same for the land I have inherited. So those that come after me can still know what it is like to grow up and live the best life there is – and that’s country living.”
For more information about the Bitter Root Land Trust and private, landowner-driven conservation in the Bitterroot Valley, visit bitterrootlandtrust.org