VICTOR — Many Ravalli County landowners have been choosing to put their acres into conservation easements lately.
So much so that the Bitterroot Land Trust has now conserved over 15,000 acres through almost 70 projects.
"This was first homesteaded by my grandmother's father, a man named William Smith," landowner Ann Groff said.
A timber ranch right outside of Victor is the original Groff ancestor homestead, dating back to the 1870s.
Watch to learn more about the conservation easement:
Since they were issued a patent by the federal government, generations of Groffs have called some land next to Gash Creek home.
"You care for the water, you care for the land because without it you don't make it," Groff said.
Over a century since the family first arrived, Ann Groff came together with her sister, niece, and nephew to preserve the property.
"We've been thinking about doing this in some way, for I would say probably at least a generation. This land has been working cattle since the beginning," Groff told MTN.
They partnered with the Bitter Root Land Trust to officially conserve the land since BRLT has conserved around 2,000 acres in Victor.
"They're seeing that that could be a solution to protecting the land. It's not the right tool for every landowner, but for some, it's worth the sacrifice of relinquishing those development rights. To know that in the long run, the land is going to stay the same," Bitter Root Land Trust Communications Director Stephanie Sipe said.
The Groff family has now conserved three properties comprising more than 650 acres.
"In 2006, the Ravalli County Open Lands bond program was voted for a $10 million bond, and it was renewed by Ravalli County voters in 2022 for another $10 million bond. And those bond dollars make these projects possible," Sipe explained.
While the Groff Farm is focused on cattle, the timber ranch is a wildlife haven.
"Dad put no hunting on them and it's like the elk and the deer figured it out immediately because it seems like the day before hunting season they just show up. They know they're safe here and they line up against the fence and sort of like wave at the hunters going by, taunting them," Groff detailed.
Down the line, Groff Park will be open to the public for sledding.
“When it snows, that hill is great and I can say so from experience of the person who ran into the barbed wire fence," Groff shared.
All the work hopes to honor the past and protect the future.
"Hopefully this land will look similar many years down the road," Groff said.
