The Wood River Land Trust is on a roll.
On Friday, the Hailey-based conservation organization announced its latest two voluntary conservation easements in a recent string of conservation triumphs. All told, the group has worked with local landowners to protect from development nearly 10,000 private acres in and around the Wood River Valley since it was founded in 1994.
The figure marks a significant achievement for the land trust. Going into 2007, the group held conservation easements on just 5,500 acres of land in central Idaho.
Voluntary conservation agreements are legal agreements between landowners and organizations like the Wood River Land Trust. When landowners enter into a conservation agreement, they voluntarily give up some of the development rights, reducing property taxes.
The limitations are binding forever, and future owners are also bound by the agreement's terms.
The latest properties the land trust had a hand in protecting include a 138-acre expansion to land already protected on a Shoshone-area farm and 14 acres of riparian land in the Warm Springs Creek drainage west of Ketchum.
Those agreements follow the land trust's announcement late last year of a massive 2,667-acre conservation easement in upper Antelope Creek in the eastern Pioneer Mountains.
That success as well as others kept the land trust busy at the end of 2007 creating voluntary conservation agreements throughout the Wood River Valley and in surrounding areas, a news release from the group states.
In 2005, Lincoln County residents Judy and Fred Brossy, owners of the roughly 1,800-acre Barbara Farm, entered into a voluntary conservation agreement with the land trust to protect nearly 400 acres of farmland and wildlife habitat along the Little Wood River near Shoshone. At the end of 2007 the couple followed that up with a secondary conservation agreement on 138 acres of working farmland, rangeland and open space.
The Barbara Farm has been a certified organic farm since 1996. The farm produces organic beans, potatoes, corn, wheat and various seed crops.
"It really is the diversity that makes the farm go," Judy Brossy said after she and her husband agreed to the first easement back in 2005.
Over the years, the Barbara Farm has also been used as a teaching tool for over 200 people who have attended programs and tours that educate community members about challenges facing southern Idaho farmers.
The Barbara Farm provides seasonal habitat for a number of wildlife species that require sagebrush for survival, including the imperiled greater sage grouse. The property also provides room for animals to roam freely between roadless areas of public land adjacent to the Barbara Farm and the Little Wood River, the land trust says.
The Barbara Farm's wild denizens include birds of prey, mule deer, songbirds, upland game birds and a variety of small mammals.
"This is a prime example of how conservation agreements can simultaneously support working farms and protect sensitive wildlife," said Nathan Welch, planning coordinator for the land trust.
The conservation agreement granted by the Brossys permits limited grazing to continue, maintains scenic views, supports native pollinators and avoids potential conflicts between different uses on the property, the land trust states.
Preserving farmlands like the Barbara Farm also ensures that communities in the Wood River Valley area can continue to enjoy local produce, the group says.
This winter, the land trust also worked with Debra and Bing Gordon to protect approximately 14 acres of land along Warm Springs Creek. The Gordons established a voluntary conservation agreement prohibiting future development to protect wildlife habitat in the sensitive areas around the parcel's creek and spring-fed pond.
Protecting the area from development also guards the banks of Warm Springs Creek against erosion during high water, according to the land trust. In addition, the native trees, shrubs and grasses along the creek provide food and nesting cover for migratory birds like yellow warblers and common yellowthroats, and year-round residents like song sparrows.
Land trust staff are working on new restoration projects, land purchases and conservation agreements for 2008.
Cattle graze on luxurious green growth on the Shoshone-area Barbara Farm. The owners of the roughly 1,800-acre farm, Judy and Fred Brossy, recently agreed to place a voluntary conservation easement on 138 acres of their land. The deal follows up on an earlier easement the Brossys agreed to that protected nearly 400 acres of the organic farm.
Photo courtesy of Judy and Fred Brossy
