None The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming Press Releases Search All Press Releases Pamela Dewell Phone: (307) 335-2133 E-mail: pdewell@tnc.org

2003 Conservation Project Review

The Conservancy in Wyoming protects more than 25,000 acres this year.

Lander, WY—January 15, 2004—The Wyoming Chapter of The Nature Conservancy announced the conservation of 25,557 acres in 2003, bringing the total amount of wildlife habitat protected by the Conservancy in Wyoming and western South Dakota to 450,721 acres.  Of the projects completed this past year, many wewas the result of a conservation easement on 22,813 acres located just west of Casper.  That easement, donated by David O. MacKenzie, is the second-largest conservation easement received by the Conservancy in Wyoming since the chapter's founding in 1989. Ranching operations will continue on the property, which has supported cattle and sheep since homestead times and will ensure the protection of crucial mule deer and pronghorn habitat. 

"The Conservancy focuses on "direct action and lasting results"—working to conserve important lands through partnerships with a diverse array of landowners," said Dave Neary, State Director of the Wyoming Chapter.  "Conservation easements are one of the tools employed to preserve open space and keep key habitat intact while maintaining private land ownership.  Most easements held by The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming and South Dakota have been donated by landowners committed to keeping natural areas on their property."

Development of the Neutra property in Dubois, which the family saved from subdivision, would have fragmented critical winter range for deer and a migration route for elk.  Purchased as seven parcels several years ago, Dr. Marian Neutra and her sons donated an easement on one hundred and thirty-five acres to make sure that the acreage most crucial to wildlife would be protected in perpetuity.  The Neutras plan to cluster building on the property in order to maximize open space and preserve wildlife migration corridors, an important aspect of the Upper Wind River Landscape Conservation Area.

Donations of two conservation easements in Sheridan County raises the total area of habitat protected by The Nature Conservancy in the Bighorn Mountain region to 87,065 acres.  Anne Pendergast has donated an easement on property in Big Horn and Charlie and Barbara Walter have donated an easement on land west of Sheridan.  Both conservation projects are located in areas that traditionally have supported agriculture—and resultant open space—but are rapidly changing due to the growth of residential subdivisions.  Diverse vegetation along the riparian, or stream-side, areas includes hawthorn, willow, chokecherry and box elder, providing habitat for a variety of bird and mammal species, as do the open meadows. The upland slopes are mainly rangeland with native grasses and flowers.  Ranching and agricultural practices consistent with the conservation purposes of the easements will continue on the properties

"Each conservation easement protects the unique character of the specific property," said Paula Hunker, Associate State Director.  "Here in Wyoming, preventing the fragmentation of open space and significant habitat is critical to ensuring the continued presence of wildlife—and the quality of our western way of life." 

Conservation easements have been instrumental in preserving agricultural lands, from family farms to ranches to timberlands. Between 1992 and 1997, more than 11 million acres of rural land in the United States were converted to developed use—and more than half of that conversion was of agricultural land, destroying some of our country's most fertile land. As people struggle to keep family farms and ranches together in the face of steep taxes and unpredictable markets, conservation easements are often the tool of choice.

A conservation easement is a restriction placed on a piece of property to protect its associated natural resources. The easement is either donated or voluntarily sold by the landowner and constitutes a legally binding agreement that limits certain types of uses or prevents development from taking place on the land in perpetuity while the land remains in private hands.

Conservation easements protect land for future generations while allowing owners to retain many private property rights and to live on and use their land, at the same time potentially providing them with tax benefits.

Other conservation projects in 2003 included the sale of Conservation Buyer Program properties in Saratoga and Casper and assisting the Wyoming Game and Fish Department with the negotiation and design of a conservation easement outside of Cody which was sold to the department for a figure below its market value.