MISSOULA — The City of Missoula will consider spending funds from an open space bond passed by voters 16 years ago to help conserve a working ranch, along with a rare valley wetland that lies on the property.
The proposed conservation easement would protect 287 acres in the Grass Valley from future development and maintain its critical habitat and agricultural soils.
The property sits just west of Missoula Montana Airport and is bisected by LaValle Creek, which also would be conserved under the proposal.
“It protects working agricultural lands, wildlife habitat and scenic views,” said Derek Gobel with the Five Valleys Land Trust. “Five Valleys and the city have a long history of conservation efforts here on the property.”
As far back as 2008, the property was nearly placed into a conservation easement using a number of funding sources, including the open space bond. However, that effort “fell apart at the 11th hour,” Gobel said, and the easement was never established.
Now the new landowner, Carl Hayden, is looking to donate the $767,000 value of the easement to Five Valleys. The project is looking to secure $26,000 from the 2006 Open Space Bond to cover the cost of the transaction.
“This is an acceptable expense under the 2006 Open Space Bond,” said council member Amber Sherrill. “That money isn't worth as much as when we passed it in 2006. Conservation takes a commitment to work on projects for a long time.”
The property is bisected by LaValle Creek and includes a number of unique features, including 65 acres of wetlands, creeks and springs. That area of the Missoula Valley is prized by the Audubon Society and represents a portion of the nationally designated Clark Fork River-Grass Valley Important Bird Area.
The area provides flatwater marshes and ponds, along with rolling foothills and grasslands that support a range of wildlife, from fox and deer to raptors and other migratory species.
“This property is unique in the Missoula Valley. It has a constant source of upwelling groundwater that serves as the lower branch of LaValle Creek. It serves as excellent habitat for birds that live here perpetually and migrating birds moving north and south in the migrating corridor.”
The ranch also includes 150 acres of working ag lands that provide grass and hay and support free-ranging cattle on a seasonal basis. Beef from the cattle is sold locally.
Members of the City Council on Wednesday unanimously agreed to set a public hearing on the project, calling the $26,000 funding request from the bond a good deal in exchange for conserving 287 acres as a conservation easement.
But both the city and county are eager to expend what remains of the bond before it loses too much value. A second proposed bond request coming down the pipeline could help do that
Zac Covington, the open space program manager for the city, said the airport has agreed to sell a right-of-way on its property to enable the city to extend the Milwaukee Trail westward. That $130,000 funding request would also come from the 2006 bond.
“That's something that's been going through the Open Space Advisory Committee, which voted unanimously in support,” said Covington. “We've been advised by the city and county to use those 2006 bonds as soon as we can.”
