By Michael Howell
The County Commissioners gave preliminary approval last week for the use of Open Lands Bond funds to help in the purchase of a conservation easement on 93 acres up the Burnt Fork east of Stevensville owned by Hattie Farrell. Farrell and her late husband George purchased their ranch in 1963 as a Grade B dairy farm. They soon transitioned to a Grade A dairy and, later, to a beef cattle operation.
The ranchland is a mix of irrigated hay ground and pasture. Fifty-six acres of the property is comprised of soils of importance and the ranch is served by water rights out of Mill Creek and Burnt Fork Creek. As part of her desire to preserve agricultural land and the farming and ranching lifestyle, Farrell has hatched a plan to move into town and sell the ranch to Dan Kerslake, an energetic young man who has developed a growing farm operation by leasing several properties in the Burnt Fork area and raising hay and cattle. She plans to offer him a discounted price based on the proceeds contributed through the Open Lands Bond program. Although the placement of the conservation easement does not mandate this plan, it does insure that the land will remain available for a working agricultural operation in perpetuity, no matter who owns it in the future.
Over a dozen people commented for the record, all of them in favor of the proposal. Dan Severson, a life-long resident of the Burnt Fork and a recipient of Open Lands Bond funding along with several neighbors in the area told the commissioners that when the voters passed the Open Lands Bond program it was a game changer for him and for the Bitterroot Valley.
“Preserving open space is the driving force,” said Severson. “We had a vision in the Burnt Fork a long time ago and now we are seeing it.” He said when the citizens showed by their vote that they shared in that vision, it helped him to make the leap.
“A forever commitment is a big thing,” he said.
Besides residents of the Burnt Fork, other members of the public at large also spoke in favor of it. The Bitterroot Audubon Society wrote a letter of support. The Bitterroot Conservation District spoke in favor of it. The Planning Department supported it and the seventeen-member Open Lands Bond Board submitted a unanimous recommendation of approval.
Several people spoke about Farrell’s commitment to the land and to agriculture and her aim of using the sale of the easement as a vehicle for passing on the ranch to a young family as dedicated to agriculture and the lifestyle it embodies as she is.
Commissioner Greg Chilcott said that the community had rejected zoning on the basis of private property rights. He lauded the Open Lands Bond program as a way to preserve certain public values that was absolutely voluntary on the part of the landowners and made for a win/win situation for everyone. He said it may not be the best way of preserving those values, “but it’s a lot better than zoning.”
Commissioner J.R. Iman remarked about the process that the Open Lands Bond Board goes through in vetting the proposals for funding. He said they had developed a way to “level the playing field” and not simply favor the rich or the largest landowners in the process.
Commissioner Doug Schallenberger said that he agreed with Chilcott and Iman and thought it was a very good process and he was in favor of it.
Commissioner Jeff Burrows said he needed to ask some of the difficult questions. He noted that the proposal called for the Open Lands Bond program to pay 75% of the cost of the easement. It was a higher proportion than normal. He said if it continued it would reach the point that the OLB program was funding the cost of the easements at 100%. He said he found that difficult to support. He also noted that, although many speakers made a big point of it that the property was going to be sold at a discount to a young farmer who would continue the heritage, there was nothing in writing about that or requiring that.
Gavin Ricklefs, Executive Director of the Bitterroot Land Trust, which is handling the conservation easement, said that the percentages are negotiated and based upon a totality of circumstance, not just a few simple variables. Being under 163 acres, the average size of a farm in the Bitterroot Valley, made it impossible to use the federal farm and ranch program to augment the funding. He noted that, though small, the property directly bordered another larger easement and merged well with the general efforts in the area. He emphasized that even if the property sale did not work out for whatever reason, the land would still be used for agriculture, and support wildlife and contribute to open space because the protection of those values is what is ensured in perpetuity. Any new building would be restricted to the three-acre building envelope.
Commissioner Ray Hawk made no comment.
The proposal was then approved on a 4 to 1 vote with Hawk casting the dissenting vote.
Burrows said later that he is very concerned about the costs creeping up to 100% funding by the OLB program.
“I struggle with that,” he said. “I’d like to see some formal sideboards or guidelines so we don’t start bumping that 100% mark.” He said he voted in favor of this one to a large degree out of respect for the Planning Department and the Open Lands Bond Board and all the time and effort they put in to making their determinations.
Hawk told the Bitterroot Star later that he had spoken in depth with Gavin Ricklefs prior to the meeting and told him beforehand that he would not voice his opposition at the meeting but that he would vote against it.
“I just told him frankly that I don’t believe in the whole program and will probably vote no on all the rest,” said Hawk. “I told him I wouldn’t talk about it, but that it was against my philosophy.”