Friday, April 11, 2014

Easements to protect 2,000 acres

Funding to come from Land, Water and Wildlife program


By GREG MOORE
Express Staff Writer


The Molyneux properties, represented by the black areas, covered by proposed conservation easements are spread across much of southern Blaine County.
Express graphic by Kristen Kaiser

     The Blaine County commissioners on Tuesday gave “conceptual” approval to a project that would spend nearly $1 million from the Land, Water and Wildlife program to help keep about 2,000 acres of south-county farmland as open space.

     The money would be added to $1.7 million in federal funds already awarded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service to buy conservation easements on six parcels owned by seven members of the Molyneux family, which has farmed the area for three generations.

     “I think it’s really important to protect what my grandfather has built,” Chance Molyneux told the commissioners.

     One of the parcels is along state Highway 75 just north of Timmerman Hill, one borders Silver Creek Preserve and four are adjacent to or near Craters of the Moon National Monument.

     Four easements totaling 1,353 acres would be held, monitored and enforced by The Nature Conservancy and two, totaling 603 acres, would be held by the Wood River Land Trust.

     “They will protect agricultural land, wildlife habitat and scenic viewsheds, in addition to wetlands and water resources,” Wood River Land Trust representative Keri York told the commissioners during their meeting Tuesday.

     York said the project “fits within the Bellevue Triangle and a lot of other protected lands that currently exist.”

     “It’s part of the scenic view that we all know and love coming over Timmerman Hill,” she said.

     The easements allow for the creation of some new building envelopes, presumably for Molyneux family members. However, York said the easements will significantly reduce the amount of development allowed under the A-40 zoning that covers most of the parcels, and will require the properties to remain primarily open farmland rather than being developed for other agricultural uses.

     York said the properties provide habitat for deer, pronghorn, sandhill cranes, long-billed curlews and northern harriers.

     Commissioner Larry Schoen said the easement proposal is “precisely the kind of project that was envisioned when the program was presented to the public and voted on.”

     Commissioner Jacob Greenberg called the proposal “a great project,” but expressed reservations that one-third of the total amount of money in the Land, Water and Wildlife fund would be paid to one family. Schoen said he believed that all that mattered is the outcome, and the issue was not raised again.

     Chance Molyneux said he intended to use part of the easement payment to fence off Silver Creek from his cattle and to repair damage already done to the stream banks. However, Schoen said he would also like to see riparian grazing setbacks included in the easements.

     The proposed easements already contain language stipulating wildlife-friendly fencing and nonlethal predator control. Water rights would be tied to the land.

     County documents state that the easements are worth about $3.2 million—computed by determining the value of the properties as they are now compared to their value with the development restrictions. However, the Molyneux family is accepting about $480,000 less than that.

     York said it’s hard to get all the members of such a large family to agree to such a notable obligation.

     “This is a significant opportunity that I doubt we will ever have again,” she said.

     Following “conceptual” approval, all the parties involved will now have to iron out the project’s details. The Land Advisory Board will then present the commissioners with a recommendation on a final decision.

     If approved, the easements would be added to conservation easements on 12,600 acres of private land in Blaine County held by The Nature Conservancy, in addition to the 851-acre Silver Creek Preserve, and on 1,667 acres of private land and 1,081 acres of preserves held by the Wood River Land Trust.




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