Montana Ranch Land Conservation Easement

Conservation Easements can be a great way to save
habitat for grizzley, elk, moose, and other magnificant
montana. Montana Conservation Easements on ranches
can also give you a great tax break. Montana Real Estate
is changing fast and development is taking over. If you are
reading this and have an opportunity to keep your ranch
whole Please DO IT. if you need money, you may get
payed for the easement. some Realtors may lead you
to believe that there is more money in developing the land.
This may not be TRUE, its more money for them, not you.

Wildlife-rich ranch protected on the Front
Conservation easement resolves complex family estate issue
DUPUYER, MONTANA — 02-02-2007 — A working ranch with some of the best grizzly bear grizzly bear habitat on the Rocky Mountain Front has now been protected from future development by a Nature Conservancy conservation easement.
The agreement covers the 4,354-acre Hager Ranch west of Dupuyer, Montana. With the transaction, the owners of the property – the Swanson and Field families – were able to work out an ownership arrangement agreeable to all.

The property, leased by cattle operators Mark and Joy Hitchcock, is a 8 miles miles north of the Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area and close to other conservation-easement protected private properties, including the Boone and Crockett Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch.
The voluntary conservation easement, which paid the owners the development value of the land, resolves a complex estate issue for the family. With the proceeds from the easement, the Swanson side of the family was able to buy out the Field family members who had little interest in continued ownership of the ranch. The whole family wanted to see the property stay in ranching and not be subdivided, said Scott Swanson, an attorney in Pendroy, Montana. His parents, Marjorie and J.A. Swanson, now own the property after buying it from J.A.’s sister’s children, the Fields.

"My grandfather was proud to have put this property together and he once said to me ‘don’t let go of this place. It’s one of the most beautiful there is,’" said Scott Swanson.
Steve Akre, a Great Falls physician and husband of Sharman Field Akre, said the agreement took a lot of effort, but it is a "wonderful" resolution for both sides of the family.
"This is exactly what a conservation easement should do. I’m glad that Sharman and her siblings (Christie Rogers, Rachel Field and Carl Field) made the decision to deal with such wonderful land in this way," he said.

The property includes native grassland and rich wetlands straddling Dupuyer Creek, an area used extensively by grizzly and black bear, mountain lions, white tail deer and other wildlife. The creek bottoms are full of cottonwood, river birch and willows, including Autumn willow, a rare species in Montana – all offering security for the bruins and other wildllife.
"I’ve sat on the banks above the creek and seen up to five grizzlies all at one time," said Mike Madel, grizzly bear biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "This is an amazing property and was the last best unprotected segment of Dupuyer Creek." A female grizzly bear accidentally shot by a big game hunter a few years ago spent a lot of time on this property with her three cubs, said Madel.

Akre and Swanson said they have, over the years, seen extensive grizzly sign when visiting the ranch. Both mentioned "Kathy," the wounded sow grizzly who frequented the ranch with her cubs. Madel said the this female recuperated from her wound and has re-established her territory ranging from the ranch south to the Blackleaf area. "We’re no longer able to monitor her," he said, "because she dropped her radio collar." About a year after the accident, Madel said he saw this female with one yearling along the mountain front, but he believes another was the victim of a larger bear. He’s not seen the third cub.

"We were delighted that we could work with the Swanson-Field family to resolve an important issue for them, keep the land in ranching and protect it from future development," said Dave Carr, the Conservancy’s Rocky Mountain Front program director who negotiated the easement.
"I think people are starting to understand how conservation easements might benefit them, because landowner demand for them is very high right now," he said.

A new federal law provides extensive tax breaks for landowners who donate conservation easements. For full-time ranchers and farmers, the deduction is 100 percent and can be used over 16 years. To receive these benefits, the easement must be completed by the end of 2007. "Every situation is different and we’re glad to work with landowners and their advisors on the best option for them," said Carr.