The Missouri River country

Conservation easements on private lands are common to protect agriculture, often with The Montana Land Reliance, along both sides of the Missouri River and into the drainages of the Smith River and the Sun River. Large ranches predominate in this landscape. Fly- fishing and upland game-bird hunting are treasures in this bountiful ecosystem. People comment on the beauty of this historic ranch landscape lying South and West of Great Falls, Montana, home to the 7 Bar Heart Angus breeding enterprise.

The rolling plains, coulees and surrounding mountains of this region were once dominated by the most powerful tribe in the Upper Missouri River - the Blackfeet. Other tribes from around this region would come into the Great Falls area for brief periods at a time in search of buffalo. They risked their lives in search of their prey, got what they came for and soon departed.

On February 28, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson won approval from Congress for a visionary project, an endeavor that would become one of America?s greatest stories of adventure. Twenty-five hundred dollars were appropriated to fund a small expeditionary group, whose mission was to explore the uncharted West. Jefferson called the group the Corps of Discovery. It would be led by Jefferson?s secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and Lewis? friend,William Clark.

Credit: Great Falls - A Pictorial History by William J. Furdell

and Elizabeth Lane Furdell

The prairie is an historic range of the American Bison. These are the grasslands lying between the Rocky Mountain Front and the Big and Little Belt Mountains to the South. Here we have the mouth of the Smith River flowing West into the Missouri at Um; the nearby confluence of the Sun River flowing southeast meeting the Missouri; and the majestic landscape markers of Square Butte, Crown Butte and Shaw Butte lying to the sunset. When you stand on the grassy ridge, the Adel Mountains mark the southern line of the big valley. Here you contemplate the Lewis and Clark exploration upstream as they moved towards the Gates of the Mountains seeking the Headwaters of the Missouri. Standing on any ridge in this country you experience an expansive valley and the cottonwood bottoms as signatures of a prairie river.

The Montana Land Reliance and private landowners who value the special natural qualities have established a corridor of conservation easements on the Missouri below the Holter Dam. An easement on the 7 Bar Heart will complement this conservation corridor and become the open-space guarantee for a reserved home-site parcel and the tradition of ranching activities.

We seek a conservation buyer who will purchase the reserved parcel and allow for continued agriculture uses of the land. Sale of the property to a conservation buyer satisfies their wishes for preservation of family goals in favor of wildlife and ranching, while allowing the buyer to take advantage of recreation amenities within the ranching way of life.

Conservation buyers have two options for land acquisition. One is to buy a ranch in fee, and then protect it with a conservation easement. The second is to compensate a rancher who grants a conservation easement which reserves a single homesite, and to receive in return a parcel of deeded land including that homesite with recreation privileges on the rest of the ranch.

The "Small Homestead, Large Landscape" Choice

One way for conservation buyers to increase their benefits is to team-up with existing ranch families, rather than replace them.

The "small homestead" solution, developed by American Conservation Real Estate

and the Montana Land Reliance, works as follows:

the rancher grants a conservation easement which limits

development to a secluded homesite

the rancher sells the homesite, along with a parcel of deeded land and

recreation rights to the entire protected ranch to a conservation buyer

the rancher retains agricultural use rights to the deeded homesite parcel

The small homestead solution keeps ranchers in business. Ranchers may use the cash to buy out family members, alleviate debt, and otherwise position themselves to weather the vagaries of livestock markets. Moreover, their conservation easements are statements of personal commitment to a future for traditional ranch families, creating a climate in which other ranchers become more likely to grant easements.

Small homestead solutions allow conservation buyers to obtain the open space and recreational amenities they seek. Buyers can leverage their land purchase into the protection and enjoyment of ranches where market values may exceed their financial ability. Conservation buyers can leverage their purchase dollars into protection of the most expansive and spectacular ranches.

Perhaps most significantly, the small homestead solution brings together newcomers and historic families to share a landscape and learn about each other's values and goals. Contrary to popular perception, most ranchers care about native plant and animal communities, but are forced by market pressures to manage primarily for productivity. Conservation buyers can help these ranchers finance projects to enhance the prospects for native species. Human communities benefit, and so does nature.

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The MAP link shows the physical description of the homestead parcel and its relationship to the ranch. A deed, subject to a conservation easement, will be conveyed to this parcel at closing.

Missouri River Lands 700 deeded acres

The owners of the 7 Bar Heart grant a Conservation Easement over 1100-acres of private land, and reserve a single parcel of 700-acres for division and sale, with no other reservations for residential use on the ranch.

The reserved parcel will have single designated building envelope of 10-acres in size to allow for 3 residences with guest cabins and ranch outbuildings.

Recreation rights to transfer with the parcel include:

Fishing rights on the Missouri from the 7 Bar Heart with floating put-in and take-out sites; Pheasant hunting on the ranch; Archery hunting of White-tailed Deer and Pronghorn; Upland Game-bird hunting rights; and other non-consumptive recreation and non-commercial rights, (includes access on the adjacent State lease lands managed by 7 Bar Heart Ranch of approximately 760-acres).

7 Bar Heart, in exchange for the recreation rights, retains an agricultural easement across the 700-acre parcel, excepting the cow-free zone of the building envelope, consistent with the permitted and restricted uses of the conservation easement.

These deeds of land and exclusive recreation

rights are offered at:

$4,500,000.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION - THE RANCH

The 7 Bar Heart in this parcel consists of approximately 1100-deeded acres. The grazing operation includes 844-acres deeded of range-land pasture on the bench with 760-acres of adjacent State lease.

The main ranch headquarters of another 900-acres is east of the town of Ulm. The Missouri River is the dominant water resource on the 7 Bar Heart property, and sits at the mouth of the Smith River flowing from the south. The Missouri flows north and east towards Great Falls and past Fort Benton into the Wild and Scenic stretches of the Missouri.

CLIMATE AND GEOLOGY

The Sun River and Missouri country and the Smith River to the south is characterized by low rainfall, hot dry summers, moderately cold winters and many sunny days with low humidity. Annual precipitation ranges between 10 and 12 inches, common to many areas of central Montana. Winter snows are broken periodically by warm, thawing southwest winds known as Chinooks. Elevation on the ranch is 3350 feet.

WILDLIFE AND ECOSYSTEM

Cascade and Ulm, Montana are part of a grassland ecosystem north of the Belt Mountains. These grasslands consist of a thick growth of annual and perennial plants, particularly grasses and forbs. The climate is extreme, characterized by sleet, hail and howling winds which desiccate the soil. Still, animals and plants live here in perfect harmony with their environment.

Many of the small mammals – prairie dogs, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, mice and badgers take shelter in burrows in the cool earth. Larger mammals such as the coyote, deer and pronghorn have thick coats that allow them to withstand the elements.

A variety of birds inhabit the grasslands. Undisturbed grasslands shelter birds such as the sharp-tailed grouse, bobolink, long-billed curlew and the western meadowlark. Ponds river sloughs and marshes provide habitat for waterfowl, herons, shorebirds, gulls, terns and a number of water-loving song-birds. Agricultural areas, rocky breaks and river bottoms also have their corresponding complement of feathered inhabitants.

The adjoining forests provide shelter for an even greater variety of birds ranging from hummingbirds to jays to hawks, turkeys and Tanagers and warblers and woodpeckers. The waters associated with cottonwoods provide food for the Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, osprey, red-breasted merganser, kingfisher and the dipper.

Within this ecosystem, each species has its own set of environmental requirements and its own set of activities that enable it to survive and make its living. Each species, then, has its own ecological niche, composed of a particular habitat and a particular means of feeding and surviving in that habitat. More than a physical space, a niche is a way of life, believed to be unique for each species. Although species may be similar, they usually are separated either spatially, temporally or behaviorally.

The birds of prey demonstrate all three types of ecological separation. The American kestrel feeds primarily on insects, the osprey on fish, the falcon on birds and the great horned owl on mammals. Some, such as the golden eagle, hunt the open areas while others such as the sharp-shinned hawk, hunt the woodlands. The eagles, hawks and falcons hunt by day or at dusk while most owls hunt at night.

White-tailed deer are the most common big game on the ranch, found on the riparian bottom-lands. Mule deer frequent the range, sagebrush and mountainous areas. Pronghorn are common, black bear, river otter, beaver, bobcat and the occasional mountain lion and Elk can be seen in this region.

The Missouri River supports a wide range of waterfowl species in different seasons. Commonly seen during spring and fall migrations are Mallard, Canada Goose, Snow Goose, Tundra Swan, Cinnamon, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, American Widgeon, Northern Pintail, Redhead, Canvasback, Northern Shoveler, Common Golden-eye, Lesser Scaup, Grebes and Common Merganser. Other species associated with the rivers and prairies in this region include White Pelican, Great-blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorant, Common Loon and Spotted and Upland Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope, Long-billed Curlew and other prairie shorebirds on ponds and reservoirs during migration and nesting. Prairie species are Sharp-tailed Grouse, Hungarian Partridge, Burrowing Owl, Short-eared Owl and prairie bird species many of whom can be found on the Bird List for the Benton Lake Wildlife Refuge just north of Great Falls:

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chekbird/r6/benton.htm

Raptors known to nest on rock cliffs and in prairie habitat include Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk and Northern Harrier. Prairie falcon, American kestrel, Rough-legged Hawk (during winter), and Turkey Vulture are commonly seen. Long-tailed Weasel, Badger, Striped Skunk, Raccoon, Coyote occur in this area.

(Information taken from the Baseline Report for the Morgens Conservation Easement, and from Roadside Geology of Montana by David Alt and Donald Hyndman, 1986; MONTANA WILDLIFE, Montana Geographic Series #3, published by Montana Magazine)

Visit the “First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park”

First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, formerly known as Ulm Pishkun, is an archaeological site with possibly the largest bison cliff jump in North America. Native peoples used this site for at least two thousand years prior to Lewis and Clark's expedition through Montana. The kill site consists of a mile long sandstone cliff; there are remnants of drive lines on top of the cliff and the remains of millions of 'processed' bison below. The park has an interpretive trail, picnic tables, and a protected black tailed prairie dog town to help the visitor better understand the epic history of hunting on the high plains.

In an effort to pay homage to the buffalo and the people who honor this mighty animal, First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park has a on-site education center. Of more than 300 bison kill sites in Montana; First Peoples Buffalo Jump is the first of its kind. The 6,000 square foot center offers visitors buffalo culture exhibits, a storytelling circle, classroom, gallery and bookstore.

A pow-wow area and demonstration site are featured outdoors.

http://visitmt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?SiteID=1&IDRRecordID=3100

CONSERVATION EASEMENT

A conservation easement is the strongest measure a landowner can take to protect the natural and agricultural character of his or her ranch. Conservation easements are perpetual restrictions on certain land uses, and are enforced by non-profit organizations known as land trusts, such as the Montana Land Reliance, who may be contacted in Helena, Montana at 406.443.7027.

The rights which the Montana Land Reliance would seek in a conservation easement are:

"to identify, to preserve and protect in perpetuity and to enhance by mutual agreement, the natural and open space, and the ecological and aesthetic features and natural flora and fauna on the land."

The exact provisions of the conservation easement will be determined through negotiations between the Montana Land Reliance and the grantor.

American Conservation Real Estate Co.

Missoula, Montana

406.443.7085

Lane Coulston, Broker

E-mail:

Spring 2008

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