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Huntsmans protect their Centennial Valley ranchland
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Pond on the Huntsmans' Centennial Alaska Basin property
© Jim Steinberg/Portfolio Publications
Evan Huntsman has a room with a view
....elk, moose, fox, deer, geese...
From his large cabin windows, the cattle rancher likes to watch elk, moose, antelope and other critters come down from the foothills of the Madison Mountains into the sage and grasslands of the Centennial Valley. He's even seen bear and wolves, and once, a lone buffalo passed through. He watches trout in the pond just below the cabin windows. To the south, the snow-capped Centennials rise up to form a dramatic boundary of the states of Idaho and Montana – and the Continental Divide.
"I enjoy watching wildlife as much as anybody," Huntsman admits. "Have you ever seen elk calves in the spring? They jump and run around and buck – just like beef calves."
This place oozes with serenity. The aspens shimmer in sunlight here in Alaska Basin, the easternmost portion of the Centennial Valley. There are several large cattle ranches and lots of wildlife, but you don't see many people and houses, and there's no electricity. There's little traffic on the gravel road bisecting the valley that leads to the Red Rock Lakes Wildlife Refuge.
The Huntsman property hosts a complex of rich wetlands and is home to trumpeter swan, Canada goose, sandhill cranes, eagles and hawks. River otters, as well as Yellowstone cutthroat and brook trout, live in Red Rock Creek, which meanders through the property. The aspen groves are home to many songbirds, and the property provides habitat for hundreds of elk.
In contrast, a few miles east of the Huntsman property over Red Rock Pass is the heavily subdivided Henry's Lake area, which is full of lake cabins and vacation homes.
"There's a lot of noise on the other side," Evan Huntsman says. "I'd sure hate for this place to get like that."
So, several years ago, Evan, his brother Bill and their two families took their first giant step toward protecting the area from development. They agreed to sell a conservation easement on their 2200-acre property to the Conservancy. (To download a Conservation Easement fact sheet, pdf, 1.05 meg.)
The conservation easement allows them to continue grazing their cattle using methods that also are good for wildlife. Basically it prohibits the property owners from subdividing, sod busting, drilling for oil and gas, hard rock mining and draining and filling of wetlands.
Since then, the Huntsmans have sold conservation easements that protect three of their Centennial ranch properties. In turn the Huntsmans were able to purchase a property they had long sought to own: the 3,771-acre Fairbank ranch on the valley's west end.
The Conservancy had purchased this property with the intention of re-selling it to the Huntsmans. The Fish and Wildlife Service placed a conservation easement on the property, which brought its pricetag down enough to make it cost-effective for the Huntsmans to purchase for ranching.
In total, the agreements protect about 6,241 acres of critical wildlife habitat in the Centennial Valley.
"Keeping the Centennial Valley free from housing subdivision and in healthy weed-free ranchlands is critical if we want to protect its extremely important biological values," says Jamie Williams, state director for the Conservancy’s Montana program.
Stewardship of the Centennial
The Huntsmans, along with most of the valley's ranchers, are involved in a larger effort to coordinate weed management and conservation projects throughout the watershed. Also involved are the staffs at the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Wildlife Program, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and the Conservancy.
"This whole effort is a win-win situation," says Garth Haugland, a Beaverhead County Commissioner. "People are concerned about the weed situation. The Nature Conservancy stepped up to the plate and provided funding. They worked to get some exceptionally adept interns who worked with the area ranchers. That has gone a long way to improve the image of the Conservancy. I think the Nature Conservancy should congratulate itself for blending its views to those of the county's residents."
