More on Conservation Easements and Groups

[Anonymous]

Land buys by nonprofit conservation groups concern locals
By LORNA THACKERAY
Of The Gazette Staff

Easements aren't the only conservation measures viewed with alarm.

Phillips County Commission Chairman Troy Blunt admits he's worried about nonprofit conservation groups' purchases of big chunks of ranch land in his rural north-central Montana county.

"No one is sure what they are trying to preserve," he said of land acquired in the past few years by the Nature Conservancy and the American Prairie Foundation. "They're trying to preserve what's already there. The ranchers have been preserving it for the last 100 years."

The conservation groups maintain they are saving the land from developers and rich out-of-state hunters, he said. "I'm not sure I buy that argument," Blunt countered.

Subdivisions and big commercial development are improbable in the sparsely populated Hi-Line county, he said. Hunters have shown some interest, but are mostly attracted to small acreages with river frontage.

It's not just the nonprofit holdings that trouble him. Large properties are being sold to wealthy absentee owners, the commissioner said.

"The scope of management is changing," he said. "It's going from family-oriented farms and ranches to nonprofits or rich individuals who live out of state and buy land as an investment or a tax write-off."

The result is fewer people on the land, he said.

"We have a steady decline in population and some of it can be attributed to them," Blunt said. "Absentee landowners are always a concern. They don't send their kids to school here or shop here or go to church here. Those are the things that keep a community going."

He believes that a majority of Phillips County residents are uneasy about the growing presence of the nonprofits and absentee owners. They have made no secret of their ambition to buy more land, he said.

Fellow commissioner Lesley Robinson said her constituents are especially anxious about the American Prairie Foundation "buffalo preserve" on the edge of the CMR Wildlife Refuge. People are not comfortable with the reintroduction of bison into an area that has been ranched for 100 years, she said.

"It's something we're watching," Robinson said.

 

[Anonymous]

Selling easment properties a tough deal
By LORNA THACKERAY
Of The Gazette Staff

When buyers checking out property in Eastern Montana learn there's a conservation easement on a place they are considering, they often lose interest.

Big Timber Realtor Mark Norem showed one large easement property "many, many times" before a buyer came along.

"About the time the conservation easement came out, buyers became very critical of the document," he said.

Every buyer is going to dissect the easements on a property before handing over the money, he said. Some of the older easements were very poorly written, Norem said. "Buyers in central and Eastern Montana scrutinize the documents even harder than in Western Montana," he said, "They don't want to have to deal with a 40-page document."

They are also less tolerant of restrictions on property, Norem said.

"I'm very much a proponent of conservation easements, but you have to go into it with your eyes wide open," he said.

Ranch owners who know that a sale looms in their future need to understand that the easement will likely lower the asking price and may make the property harder to sell.

Malta Realtor Jim Knudson has been working with an easement property owner trying to decide if he wants to sell.

"If someone buys, it's going to be solely for grazing cattle," he said. "It depends on the price. It limits the sale."

Secondary buyers don't share the same enthusiasm for conservation easements as the original owner, because they don't reap the same tax benefit, Norem said.

Knudson worries that cash infusions from the sale of easements may not help ranchers hold on to their property in the long run.

"It's kind of scary," he said. "Take a rancher who's just holding on by a thread and people are pushing an easement for $400,000. But take a look 15 years from now and see if it's working. Fifteen years from now, he's probably going to be right back in the same position."


No rush in developing area subdivisions
As far as Malta Realtor Jim Knudson knows, there's no rush to develop residential or commercial subdivisions in the wide-open spaces of Eastern Montana.

But land prices are rising just the same, he says. Mountain-high pricing hasn't crossed from Western Montana, but there has been a trickle-down effect.

"People are selling their places in Western Montana for big money and moving east to ranch," he said. "I got three calls last week from (Western Montana) ranchers looking at Eastern Montana."

By comparison, Montana prairie country is still a bargain, said Mark Norem, a land manager and Realtor from Big Timber who handles properties all over the West.

"They have a high-value mountain or river ranch in Western Montana and sell out at a high price," he said.

Malta appraiser Gary Knudson, Jim's cousin, said local sales recently have come in at $300 to $400 an acre. He even has heard rumors of $500-an-acre sales.

Norem said a ballpark figure for Eastern Montana is between $150 and $300 an acre, depending on the quality of the land. The market has been very good, he said.

Ranchers moving west to east, however, aren't solely responsible for a steady increase in Eastern Montana land prices. Lots of people with different motives are looking at ranch country.

Gary Knudson said he's seen a lot of out-of-state interest from people wanting to buy land as an investment.

His cousin says he's also fielded a few inquiries from recreation and amenity buyers. Hunters in particular are looking over Eastern Montana, he said.

"I go to a lot of sports shows and gun shows to display listings," Jim Knudson said. "People who want to get away from people are coming this way."

Another factor is conservation groups, such as the Nature Conservancy and the American Prairie Foundation, which have purchased tens of thousands of acres of ranchland south of Malta near the CMR Wildlife Refuge.

"They paid prices for it no one else could have paid for it," Gary Knudson said.

 

[ranchwife]

OT---Yes, unfortunately, land prices in our area are absolutely skyrocketing!!! :shock: Many, many family farms/ranches are selling out....not only due to the children growing up and looking for greener/easier pastures to graze on, but also because of skyrocketing property taxes!! Family ranches are going under and having to sell out to big money realtors just to pay off the property taxes!! How very sad!! If something ever happens with the lease on this place, we too will have to leave and look elsewhere!! Our "full-time" population here in ennis is steadily declining, but our "summer residents" have blossomed....folks here 2-3 months out of the whole year with million dollar homes who jack up the cost of living and the rate of property taxes and leave the "blue-collar/working family" to carry the load!! Simply breaks my heart!!

 

[theHiredMansWife]

"Absentee landowners are always a concern. They don't send their kids to school here or shop here or go to church here. Those are the things that keep a community going."

The owner might not live in the community, send their kids to school, etc. but their manager usually does. And if they're lucky, his wife will be the new 2nd/3rd grade teacher. :wink:

I've said this before, but it bears repeating; if it weren't for absentee owners, my husband wouldn't be able to run a ranch. Not enough capital to get started on his own, too independant to work for someone nearby.

 

[mtrancher]

Thanks OT for posting, I don't get a chance to see the Billings Gazette and since I live in south Phillips county it was interesting reading. We are very concerned especially about the American Prairie Foundation as they are not cattle friendly at all. They want to buy up several million acres in northern Montana and tear out all fences, buildings etc and run strictly buffalo.
The Nature Conservancy has been more cattle friendly as they have allowed neighboring rancher to graze cattle on their Matador ranch, so far they are recognizing the benefit of cattle grazing in a healthy prairie enviorment.

 

[Anonymous]

mtrancher- yeah I been hearing some stories from down there- and some didn't sound good...Are you anywhere near that old outlaw buddy of mine- Steve Pankratz :wink: :lol: We put in a few miles together years ago- hardly get to see him since my kids are out of sports now...Once in a while see him when he's buying cattle for someone at the local sale.....

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Altho I am not a fan of TNC I have read about ranches that are dealing with them and they seem cattle friendly but I imagine that there are stories about bad dealings as well.
Sounds like the American Prairie Foundatio is just buying land if they have control to take out fences. Sounds like the same deal as the "Buffalo Commons" that the Predator Alliance was proposing. Given enough money I think they could be dangerous.

 

[mtrancher]

OT Yeah I used to neighbor Steve until he moved closer to Malta, see him around still.
Sure would make ranching life a lot nicer if groups like the TNC and APF would just go away but thats not going to happen. This area north of the Missouri river seems to be a real hotbed for enviormental groups. Apparently this is an area with a large diversity of wildlife and especially little twitty type birds that live in the prairie, if I remember right 10-12 of 15 species that they are interested in can be found in this local area, thus all the hubbubb. The Nature Conservancy has indicated that they are seriously looking at getting control over more of these ranches through either purchase, conservation easements, etc. So like I said the problem isn't just going to go away, soooo we as ranchers have to figure out a way to survive and that may mean making some choices we aren't exactly comforable with, such as partnering with the TNC for grazing in exchange for enhancing habitat for twitty birds and agreeing not to poison prairie dogs on our own ranches. Just some ideas, like I said I sure don't like it but the reality is that these groups are the ones with the financial resources to buy these high priced ranches, the neighboring ranchers certainly can't afford too. Seems like the good old days that we experienced growing up here are slipping away. Will be interesting to see what happens in the next 10- 20 years.

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Mtrancher, there are other groups that buy CE's besides TNC . sw mentioned a oufit from Montana that he deals with. Some just want assurence that the land will remain in native grass and others do have more specific requirements such as where winter feeding takes place ect. Each CE can be designed to meet each others needs. Some CE's are bought for abut 25% of the value of the land and others are traded for Tax credits.
I know of a 100 year old place in the Cypress hills and they were going to sell off part so the Dad could retire and the son could work for the new owner and keep part of the ranch. Well part of that ranch will probably be gone forever now. If they had sold a CE on the ranch for 25% they could have had the down payment the father could have moved to town and the son would have still had the whole ranch to operate on and they probably wouldn't have had to do anything different the the way they operated in the past.
This is why the subject of CE's is such a tough one. No one want to give up their sovernty but our way of life is changing with or with out us and we have to decide the best way to make those changes work for us. We almost seem more stubborn then our predecessors that faced greater changes then we are.