Park County Landowner Helps Preserve “This Little Piece of Heaven”

Cody, WY—December 5, 2005—The second of two conservation easements preserving property in Park County has been donated to The Nature Conservancy by Deidre Pirie. The property conserved by the easements consists of approximately 186 acres on Hunter Creek Road, southwest of Cody, and is comprised primarily of sagebrush grassland and riparian habitat along the South Fork of the Shoshone River.

Ms. Pirie first came to the Upper South Fork with her family when she was only two years old and they were guests at the Deer Creek Ranch on the north side of the river. Through years of summer visits, she grew to love the steep, wild cliff-country of the Upper South Fork and fulfilled a childhood dream when she was able to acquire property there many years later. Placing a conservation easement on the property, she says, helps preserve “this little piece of heaven for other generations of adventuresome kids.”

The upper South Fork valley provides crucial winter range for mule deer as well as habitat for a wide variety of animals, including beaver, otter, mink, muskrat, water voles, raptors, neotropical migrant birds, and many amphibian species. The area is currently occupied seasonal expansion range for both grizzly bears and wolves, and a variety of other large mammals including mountain lion, wolverine and black bear.

Laura Bell, Director of the Conservancy’s Absarokas Program said, “The Upper South Fork is truly a special place and thanks to landowners like Deidre, it will continue to be.” The South Fork area is now protected from development by eight conservation easements, the first of which was donated in 1986. The Nature Conservancy and its partners have conserved over 424,000 acres in Wyoming, encompassing critical rangeland, breeding grounds, migration routes, lakes, rivers and streams.