Post by Meadowlark on Apr 18, 2018 12:56:21 GMT -7
Forest Service Inches Closer to Park County Land Deal
A land swap north of Yellowstone National Park that forest officials say will secure wildlife habitat is nearing completion.
The U.S. Forest Service released an environmental assessment of a land deal between the agency and the owners of Shooting Star Ranch. Under the deal, the Shooting Star Ranch would give the Forest Service about 583 acres east of the Yellowstone River and Highway 89, a swath of land known as the Slip and Slide Ranch. In exchange, Shooting Star Ranch would acquire 590 acres of federal land surrounded by the ranch’s property in Cinnabar Basin, which is west of the river.
The release of the environmental assessment opens a formal objection period that will run until late May. Once that period ends, the Forest Service can issue a final decision and complete the trade.
Mike Thom, the Gardiner district ranger for the Forest Service, said they expect the deal will be finished by next fall. He said it works out well for both sides, and that it will preserve a wildlife corridor between Yellowstone and the Dome Mountain Wildlife Management Area, which borders the Slip and Slide Ranch.
“Getting into a place where that landscape will be conserved for wildlife ... that’s the biggest thing,” Thom said.
It would also add to a list of preservation efforts on the northern border of Yellowstone in the last few decades, including land purchases and conservation easements meant to protect wildlife habitat. Thom said Slip and Slide was “kind of the last big chunk that’s been sitting out there.”
The deal has been in the works for more than a decade. Bill Morean, owner of Shooting Star Ranch and a member of Forbes’ 2005 list of the 400 richest Americans, bought most of the Slip and Slide Ranch in 2008.
According to the environmental assessment, Morean bought the land with plans to trade it to the Forest Service for land near his ranch in the Cinnabar Basin.
This deal was reached in 2015. It gives Morean two pieces of federal land in the upper Cinnabar Basin surrounded by land he owns. The environmental assessment says there’s no legal public access to the pieces. Morean has also agreed to place a conservation easement on the property, precluding any future development.
The Forest Service took public comment on the proposal in 2015. It received a handful of comments, most of which were fully supportive of the trade.
The Slip and Slide Ranch has been been home to a set of corrals previously leased by the Montana Department of Livestock for bison quarantine and research. The lease won’t be renewed, Thom said.
Thom also said the fences and buildings will be removed. A road going through the ranch will be available to the Forest Service for administrative use, but not for public use.
Once the deal is complete, Thom said, the agency will consider doing range restoration projects there, like restoring native plants to irrigated pastures.
By Michael Wright, Chronicle Staff Writer, April 17, 2018
A land swap north of Yellowstone National Park that forest officials say will secure wildlife habitat is nearing completion.
The U.S. Forest Service released an environmental assessment of a land deal between the agency and the owners of Shooting Star Ranch. Under the deal, the Shooting Star Ranch would give the Forest Service about 583 acres east of the Yellowstone River and Highway 89, a swath of land known as the Slip and Slide Ranch. In exchange, Shooting Star Ranch would acquire 590 acres of federal land surrounded by the ranch’s property in Cinnabar Basin, which is west of the river.
The release of the environmental assessment opens a formal objection period that will run until late May. Once that period ends, the Forest Service can issue a final decision and complete the trade.
Mike Thom, the Gardiner district ranger for the Forest Service, said they expect the deal will be finished by next fall. He said it works out well for both sides, and that it will preserve a wildlife corridor between Yellowstone and the Dome Mountain Wildlife Management Area, which borders the Slip and Slide Ranch.
“Getting into a place where that landscape will be conserved for wildlife ... that’s the biggest thing,” Thom said.
It would also add to a list of preservation efforts on the northern border of Yellowstone in the last few decades, including land purchases and conservation easements meant to protect wildlife habitat. Thom said Slip and Slide was “kind of the last big chunk that’s been sitting out there.”
The deal has been in the works for more than a decade. Bill Morean, owner of Shooting Star Ranch and a member of Forbes’ 2005 list of the 400 richest Americans, bought most of the Slip and Slide Ranch in 2008.
According to the environmental assessment, Morean bought the land with plans to trade it to the Forest Service for land near his ranch in the Cinnabar Basin.
This deal was reached in 2015. It gives Morean two pieces of federal land in the upper Cinnabar Basin surrounded by land he owns. The environmental assessment says there’s no legal public access to the pieces. Morean has also agreed to place a conservation easement on the property, precluding any future development.
The Forest Service took public comment on the proposal in 2015. It received a handful of comments, most of which were fully supportive of the trade.
The Slip and Slide Ranch has been been home to a set of corrals previously leased by the Montana Department of Livestock for bison quarantine and research. The lease won’t be renewed, Thom said.
Thom also said the fences and buildings will be removed. A road going through the ranch will be available to the Forest Service for administrative use, but not for public use.
Once the deal is complete, Thom said, the agency will consider doing range restoration projects there, like restoring native plants to irrigated pastures.
By Michael Wright, Chronicle Staff Writer, April 17, 2018