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Conservation of ranchlands in the Centennial Valley

Centennial Valley sunset
Photo by Jim Steinberg

In Montana’s Centennial Valley, giant strides have been made to conserve biologically-rich ranchlands.

 

In May, 2006, the owner of the J Bar L Ranch in Montana’s Centennial Valley donated a conservation easement covering 723 acres of her ranchland to the Conservancy.

With this conservation easement, the Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have completed conservation easements with 16 ranching families covering more than 32,000 acres.

The Centennial – with its expansive wetlands and some of the oldest forest in southwest Montana – is one of the last undeveloped valleys in the Greater Yellowstone region and is a connecting route for large animals migrating from Yellowstone to the northern Rockies.

"Most all the ranching families here want to see the valley’s character remain the same – for ranching and wildlife," said Tim Swanson, the Conservancy’s southwest Montana program director.

The Nature Conservancy, the Fish and Wildlife Service and other organizations are using conservation easements as a tool to help private landowners keep their lands intact. Funding for these purchased conservation easements is from private donors and public sources, such as Land and Water Conservation funds which are supported by Montana’s Congressional delegation.