2017 Annual Report
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2017 ANNUAL REPORT one million acres by the numbers 62 Most 854 easements The Montana Land Reliance Total number 40, 064 in one year partners with private of easements Largest protected (2000) landowners to permanently property acreage protect agricultural lands, g n i b fish and wildlife habitat, m a L Average and open space. n h property o J 1,2 21 acreage The immediate accomplishments of MLR’s m o c . Smallest conservation work are y h 1 p Cost in dollars to a protected measured in miles of r g o monitor one acre of t property o streambank preserved and h p property in 2017 acreage r e t .2 9 acres of land protected. n e k The lasting benefits of MLR’s work are the perpetuation of a lifestyle and 932,455 293 Total privately an economy that rely on Miles of blue- and enhanced public red-ribbon trout responsibly managed private acreage (MLR streams protected land and the increasingly acreage adjacent h t valuable Montana open to public lands) i m S spaces that will continue y d n to nourish the spirit of Median a R future generations. property 16 0 acreage 98,324 377,25 8,803 Most acres in one year (2007) Total ecosystem services value in dollars cproesnidnen et’sc ltetitner g the dots IT IS NOT HARD TO IMAGINE for four percent of the total. That’s privately-owned working terrains of what some of Montana’s most special a big deal. farms, ranches, and forests. Often, places would have looked like without these people believe that the former the long-term and persistent effort The moment Phil signed the is more deserving of our conservation of The Montana Land Reliance easement papers was the culmination attention and resources. (MLR). Places like the Smith River of four decades of hard work, Canyon country could have been unwavering vision, and persistent But we have always known that asphalt and houses instead of grass, effort of the MLR Board, staff, and the protection and conservation trees, and grazers. thousands of supporters. We’ve of our working landscapes is as had setbacks, leaps forward, and important as the protection of In this year’s annual report, you’ll Montana’s future is tied to the land thousands of cups of coffee around our public lands. The success of weave your way through the sage and to the people who live on and kitchen tables. landscape-level conservation lies brush steppes and prairie plains manage it. MLR envisions a future in the critical intersection of public of eastern Montana to the high with enduring landscapes that keep When I started with MLR in 1979, and private land. mountains of the Greater Yellowstone Montana’s agricultural lands and as the Treasurer and Secretary of Ecosystem, from the banks of the communities healthy and flourishing the Board, I never imagined what we HELPING RANCHING AND iconic Smith River to the far corners over the generations. would accomplish. As I reflect on FARMING FAMILIES stay on the of northwest Montana, through the those decades and the organization’s land while protecting river valleys, ecological transition zones, through On August 5, 2017, rancher and recent milestone, I do so with watersheds, wildlife corridors, winter the public lands and working lands, MLR Board member, Phil Rostad, took immense gratitude for the people range, and breeding habitat for and through the minds of the people the stage in front of over 400 MLR and places that have gotten us here wildlife exponentially increases the who have chosen to protect their landowners and supporters at the and for the collaborative nature of value of public lands Montanans love land for future generations. Million Acre Celebration on the these efforts: voluntary participation, so much. The two go hand-in-hand. Hilger Ranch near the Gates of the shared goals, pooled resources, The report is a story of the big Mountains, took the pen, and to and a deep commitment to place. The distinct challenge and reward picture and of the tiny puzzle pieces raucous cheers from the audience, of MLR’s work is that each property, coming together. It is a story of signed a conservation easement on MLR HAS THRIVED and succeeded, ranch, farm, parcel of land, and collaboration and of deep affection his family’s Martinsdale ranch, even during lean years, because we family is different and every owner for and affirmation of Montana’s local pushing the total easement acreage understand the sacred connections has different goals for their property. communities, working landscapes, held by MLR over the million-acre between people and their places, and I’m blown away every day by the staff and the natural world. mark. The ranch that hosted the party between working landscapes and at MLR who understand and respect is itself a part of that million acres. public lands. We understand the the uniqueness of the places where It is a story of the past, of the present, power of relationships and trust. they work and the people they and of the future. One million acres. MLR has secured work with. the most easement acres out of any There are some who would look at It is a story of Montana. land trust in the state and out of Montana and see two classes of Such practical respect is the true 25,692,063 total acres conserved landscapes: the publicly-owned parks discipline of MLR’s efforts. –George Olsen nationwide, MLR is responsible and wilderness preserves, and the SINCE 1978 7 The Montana Land Reliance 2017 has worked with private – 1 – Ko oten landowners all across Montana Shoco Ranch * – 836 acres ai – 2 – to meet their conservation Mountain Hi Ranch ** – 2,370 acres goals, including the protection of – 3 – major watersheds critical to Rostad Property – 4,615 acres – 4 – agriculture and wildlife habitat. Arthun Property – 4,421 acres – 5 – d a Lien Property – 92 acres e h t S a w 1,038,964 ACRES l – 6 – F a Craig Property II – 74 acres n of ecologically, agriculturally, and C – 7 – la rk historically important land, Brown Property – 62 acres F or ot and 1,728 miles of streambank – 8 – k Blackfo Schutz Property III – 628 acres are now protected under MLR’s 16 t – 9 – o 854 conservation easements. o Hamilton Ranch – 1,454 acres r C r lar e k t F t o – 10 – i rk Bintz Property – 400 acres B Crop/Hay/Pasture – 11 – X Bar T Ranch – 160 acres 172,876 6 – – 12 – Bi Roberts L7 Ranch (North ) – 24,622 acres g H Range/Forest ole 866,088 – 13 – – Roberts L7 Ranch (South) – 4,796 acres Elk Habitat – 14 – Ritchey Property – 40 acres 552,2 10 d – 15 – a e – h Micks Ranches II – 3,093 acres r e v Wetlands a – 16 – e 42,362 King Property – 567 acres B – Greater Yellowstone 48,230 ACRES Ecosystem 295,435 – Northern Continental *Partners: Lewis & Clark County Open Space Program, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Divide Ecosystem Vital Ground, Montana Audubon Society 19,915 ** Partners: The Trust for Public Land, Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Lands Easement (ALE) Program 2 M ilk M arias Teton Mi ssouri S un 1 ECOSYSTEMS h t i d Greater Yellowstone u J S Northern Continental Divide m i t h Northern Great Plains 12 Muss elshell tone 3 15 Yellows 10 13 n 8 so r n 2 fe o f s e i J d a M 14 r 9 n e 4 r e d 5 o G u h g w a g o i n l 11 o P l B a T t i n Ru by MLR EASEMENT EASEMENT DENSITY BY COUNTY MAJOR WATERSHEDS 1–10,000 acres 10,001 –25,000 acres BLUE- AND RED-RIBBON 25,001 –50,000 acres TROUT STREAMS More than 50,000 acres 3 taking a wide view “Like the sea there is something compelling about its distances and sweep. Nowhere except the sea is there quite the same subtlety of color, quite the same feeling of vastness .” – K. Ross Toole, Uncommon Land out east It was in this country around 1887 that Jarrod Broadus’s great-grandfather, Henry Bailey, homesteaded and began This is a land where the sky comes putting a ranch together. down the same distance all around, and those who live in it love it – “It’s an amazing valley. And this most of the time. particular part of this valley is even – K. Ross Toole, Uncommon Land more so. It’s home,” said Jarrod. IT IS A LAND WHERE THE SKY It is a land of life, and its history is comes down the same distance all visible from the rock art left by Native around. If you say those words to Americans and some settlers on the someone born and raised in eastern sandstones. Pronghorn antelope graze Montana they will nod knowingly. And, the sagebrush throughout the year. if you say the words Rosebud Creek, Mule deer roam the hills alongside one eastern Montanans will know you are of the most impressive elk herds in all talking about a creek that starts in of Montana; their trails wind up the the hills near Kirby, Montana, then steep side hills and into the rugged winds and meanders quietly through mountains. colorful scoria hills past generational ranches with cows grazing in front Yes, there are mountains in eastern Pronghorn antelope of wind- and water-carved sandstone Montana. castles. Flowing north, the creek ends its journey when it joins with Ungulates, raptors of all kinds, upland the Yellowstone River.