From the mountains of Yellowstone National Park, the mighty Snake River begins its journey to the coast as two smaller rivers: the Henrys Fork and the South Fork. This part of the river is one of the most important and popular wildlife and recreational areas in the country.
Visitors from all over the world travel here to enjoy the spectacular scenery, fishing and wildlife. The South Fork supports the largest native Yellowstone cutthroat trout fishery outside of Yellowstone National Park and produces half the bald eagles in the state. According to Dr. John Loomis of Colorado State University, the use of the South Fork and Henrys Fork of the Snake River by anglers and other visitors generates more than 1,200 jobs and more than $41 million in income. In addition, some of the most productive dry farmland in eastern Idaho lies along the high bluffs lining the South Fork.
However, because of the Snake River's natural beauty, both the South Fork and Henrys Fork are attractive locations for residential subdivision and development.
For nearly 20 years we've worked to protect lands along the Upper Snake River and the canyon stretch of the South Fork Snake River. A hallmark of the Fund's work is our understanding that for conservation solutions to last, they need to make economic sense. In this region of Idaho, the economy depends on the natural landscape—preserving the outdoors and agricultural lands ensures economic stability in the region.
Recognizing the threat of unchecked development on the region's landscape, we have mobilized partnerships to protect critical, privately-owned properties along the Henrys and South forks, with a goal of maintaining the watershed’s open, agricultural character for the long-term benefit of wildlife and recreationists. Keeping productive land in farming was one of the main reasons local landowner, Cletus Hamilton, decided to work with us to protect his land. “We thought this was good to do for ourselves and our family, for society and for the land,” Hamilton said.
To date, we have protected more than 20,000 acres along the Upper Snake River. Most recently, we were part of a conservation partnership, including willing landowners, that worked to save two of the last unprotected parcels of private land along the canyon stretch of the South Fork Snake River.
We assisted the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with the purchase of a 440-acre tract from a willing landowner that has more than two miles of river frontage within the magnificent South Fork canyon. The land had been approved for a 25-homesite subdivision. We also helped place a permanent conservation easement on more than 700 acres of privately owned land adjoining the purchased property. Key funding for these projects was provided by The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) and the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA).
Conserving these two properties—one now in public ownership and the other remaining in private hands—benefits the citizens of Idaho and all those who visit to enjoy hunting, fishing, beautiful scenery and wildlife viewing. These lands also provide migration routes for big game like elk and mule deer, as well as habitat for imperiled species like the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse.
"This effort shows that private working lands can still remain productive while providing assurance that future generation of Idahoans will have the same opportunity to enjoy these lands.” said Senator Jim Risch.
Much work remains, however. Other families with land of high in conservation value wish to follow the example of our partner landowners, like Cletus Hamilton, and protect their magnificent land permanently. Our success will ultimately hinge on the generosity and conservation vision of potential new funding partners and generous donors.
In September 2008, The Conservation Fund, Colorado State Forest Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) and the owners of the Catspaw Ranch in Archuleta County announced the protection of 8,690 acres through a Forest Legacy Program conservation easement, an agreement that permanently restricts the type and amount of development on the landowner’s property.
“The Catspaw Forest Legacy project demonstrates how all of us working together can protect environmentally sensitive forest lands. Thanks to the willingness of the Catspaw Ranch owners, this conservation easement, established adjacent to the San Juan National Forest and in the Navajo River watershed, will in perpetuity protect a significant piece of forest land from development, thus helping to preserve valuable water, wildlife habitat and vegetative resources.”
This easement complements other ongoing conservation efforts in the Navajo River watershed, the system of lands and waters linked to the river. The Navajo River, one of Colorado’s most wild and remote rivers, rises in the rugged South San Juan Wilderness in the area south of Wolf Creek Pass. The Colorado Conservation Partnership (CCP), a coalition of five of Colorado’s leading conservation organizations including The Conservation Fund, identified this area as a high conservation priority because it borders existing protected lands and is one of the few remaining intact and pristine areas in the state.
The Conservation Fund helped facilitate the Catspaw Ranch easement and has been involved in the conservation of lands within Navajo River watershed since 2000, protecting nearly 20,000 acres. Over the years, GOCO provided critical funding for these efforts, contributing nearly $5 million in lottery funds to place conservation easements on working ranches.
The Forest Legacy Program is a federally-funded program of the U.S. Forest Service that partners with states to support and protect environmentally sensitive forest lands. To maximize public benefits, the program focuses on the acquisition of portions of privately owned forest lands. It accomplishes this by purchasing conservation easements without removing the property from private ownership. Most of the easements restrict development, require sustainable forestry practices and protect other values at risk. Forest Legacy projects compete nationally for funding and are required to have matching funds in place. GOCO provided matching funds for the Catspaw Ranch easement.
The Conservation Fund, along with the Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust, worked with the Botur family for three years to complete conservation easements on more than 4,600 acres of their working cattle ranch, the Cottonwood Ranches. The conservation easements protect prime habitat along rivers, lakes and streams—critical for the sage grouse—to aid in the mitigation of oil and gas impacts in Wyoming. The easements also improve habitat conditions on more than 25,000 acres of adjacent land owned by the Bureau of Land Management.
Cottonwood Ranches has been proud to work with the Stock Growers Ag Land Trust and The Conservation Fund over the last three years. Together we have put into conservation more than 4,000 acres of prime riparian habitat to aid in the mitigation of oil and gas impacts in Wyoming. With the conservation of those lands and the support from the Jonah Interagency Office, tens of thousands of acres of important upland rangeland have been effectively supported for the good of the land, the wildlife and the ranch. As a rancher I am also grateful for these efforts to balance the development of our resources with the preservation of the agricultural stewardship that is so important to our communities all across Wyoming.”
The Cottonwood Ranches is located southwest of Daniel, Wyoming in the upper Green River Valley. This large, working cattle ranch provides crucial winter and yearlong habitat for mule deer, moose, elk, pronghorn antelope, and sage grouse. The project represents the first use of Jonah Interagency Office (JIO) oil and gas mitigation funds for permanent land conservation.
The Cottonwood Ranch property contains more than four miles of riparian and wetland habitat along Muddy Creek and is completely surrounded by public land. The Wyoming Game & Fish Department selected the site because it contains some of the highest quality sage grouse habitat in the Green River Valley—in a single visit more than 250 sage grouse were observed on the property. (See video of the sage grouse and its famous mating strut).
Western ranchland is disappearing and with it important wildlife habitat. Partnerships between government agencies, willing ranchers and conservation groups are increasingly important to the future of this habitat.
The Conservation Fund worked with the Botur family, owners of Cottonwood Ranches, to place three conservation easements on their property, thereby preserving a family legacy of ranching while at the same time protecting critical wildlife habitat.
Funding for the easements came from JIO mitigation funds, the Wyoming Wildlife & Natural Resources Trust and The Nature Conservancy, through a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for the support of Wyoming’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. The Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust will monitor and enforce the easements.
The conservation easements ensure that over 4,600 acres of prime riparian habitat is conserved permanently and the property can forever remain a working ranch.
Other long term benefits of this project include:
“The Boturs are incredible stewards of the land and we are grateful to them—and all of our partners—for their continued commitment to conserving Wyoming’s natural heritage.” — Luke Lynch, Wyoming state director for The Conservation Fund.
The Conservation Fund is committed to working with ranching families to protect the rugged expanses that support rural economies, protect wildlife habitat, and preserve a uniquely American way of life.
Like many ranchers across the West, Craig Bair and his brother LeGrande were at a crossroads. Sprawling subdivisions are devouring the wide-open vistas that once defined the region’s heritage. Seeking relief from drought and soaring property taxes, the family debated for years whether to sell their historic sheep ranch to developers. The land—one of the last open areas visible from Interstate 70 west of Vail—was valued at more than $20 million.
"As a third-generation ranching family in Colorado, we have been stewards of one of the most extraordinary natural areas in the world for more than 90 years. This ranch has sustained our family and defined our heritage. When I asked my children they said they would rather stay, and keep up the tradition of hard work, than sell and go someplace else, and this project allows us to do that. I hope this pioneering project helps other ranching families find a way to protect their way of life."
- Craig Bair
The Bairs opted to stay and turned to The Fund to help them craft a solution that would protect the landscape and generate some much-needed cash to consolidate ownership within the family and keep the land working. In 2004, in partnership with Eagle Valley Land Trust, the Fund purchased a conservation easement on the 4,800-acre property, permanently protecting the ranch, its scenic vistas, and wildlife habitat from development. Private donations from more than 1,100 local residents were leveraged with assistance from the Bureau of Land Management, Eagle County, Garfield County, and Great Outdoors Colorado to complete the transaction.
In addition to enhancing public recreation opportunities along three miles of the Colorado River, the conservation agreement safeguards the entrance to Glenwood Canyon and provides migration corridors for mule deer, black bear, and mountain lion. The land will remain a working ranch under ownership by the Bair family.
America’s forests, farms and ranches define our horizon and our history. We are committed to working with ranching families to protect their lands and save their unique American way of life. Saving working forests protects wildlife habitat and rural economies that rely on them. To date, we have protected more than a million acres of the nation’s most vulnerable farms, forests and ranches by keeping them working for current and future generations.
Forests cover about one third of the United States. They come in many types—coastal or landlocked, boggy or dry, evergreen or brilliantly colored—so it seems fitting that our forest conservation efforts also vary. In California, we’re pioneering a model of sustainable forest management. In the Southeast, we bring community forestry to life. Across the country, we help our partners acquire and conserve working forests that support jobs, recreation and wildlife.
Learn about our forestry work.
Farming can be risky business. The swings of weather and capital markets take a heavy toll on small or independent farmers. We support sustainable farmers through our Natural Capital Investment Fund, which provides capital and technical support for small farms and businesses that use resources wisely. Our new ShadeFund also offers support to small farmers through microloans.
Family ranches landmark the West. To protect ranchlands across this rugged region, we use both classic conservation strategies, such as easements (legal agreements to restrict development), and new sources of capital, such as mitigation funds from oil and gas development. Click on the links below to learn more:
The Fund worked with the Botur family for three years to complete conservation easements on more than 4,600 acres of their working cattle ranch. Read more >
Luke Lynch, Wyoming State Director, writes about working with Freddie Botur to save his family's ranch. Read more >
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1655 N. Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1300
Arlington, Virginia 22209-3199
Phone: 703-525-6300
Fax: 703-525-4610
Email: postmaster@conservationfund.org