Gallatin Valley Land Trust secures funding for 1,565-acre Conservation easement

This property became a flagship project for Gallatin Valley Land Trust in Paradise Valley, protecting habitat for grizzly bear, black bear, mountain lion, wolf, wolverine, elk, mule deer, and whitetail deer. Located in the uppermost private ownership of the Mill Creek tributary of the Yellowstone River, the property serves as a critical migration corridor for wildlife moving from the Absaroka–Beartooth Wilderness and Yellowstone National Park into Paradise Valley.

Although pronghorn were not common in the Mill Creek area, they have been observed on this property, and local community efforts to increase pronghorn populations included the installation of wildlife-friendly fencing on this property. Davis Creek and Mill Creek bisect the lower portions of the property, providing valuable trout habitat.

The property protects transitional habitat types from the forested mountain front to the bunchgrass rangelands of the valley floor, including montane forest, native bunchgrass, agricultural pasture, riparian gallery forest, and willow communities. The landowners actively manage the forest through thinning to reduce beetle kill and wildfire risk. The Mill Creek drainage is one of the land trust’s highest priority landscapes, where more than 5,000 acres of conservation easements are now being pursued. In combination with nearby projects and adjacent U.S. Forest Service land, this easement helped secure a permanent block of connected habitat that will remain permeable to wildlife in perpetuity.

This property is owned by a multi-generational, long-established family in Paradise Valley, and the successful completion of this project has served as a catalyst—demonstrating to neighboring landowners the value and viability of conservation easements as a long-term stewardship tool.

“Keep It Connected fills a critical role that meets both the landowners and land trust’s needs, while efficiently leveraging donor dollars. The Keep It Connected funds closed the gap in meeting the landowners purchase price, while being leveraged 40-times by the landowner’s generous donation and federal funding for this project. Now wildlife can move continuously from Yellowstone National Park to the Mill Creek drainage – the largest tributary to the Upper Yellowstone River – on entirely public or protected privately owned ranchland.” – Cole Herdman, Northern Yellowstone Open Lands Program Manager, Gallatin Valley Land Trust