Tucked away in the hills west of Missoula, below Evaro Hill, lies the Indreland Ranch. From the Wye, you’d never know it was there. Yet the Indreland Ranch has maintained its ranching roots, and has provided a haven for wildlife, for over 80 years. This month, landowner Rory Indreland worked with Five Valleys Land Trust to place a conservation easement across 1,667 acres of the Indreland Ranch, protecting it for wildlife, agriculture, and future generations.
“It is pretty unique,” says Rory Indreland. “Seems like you're in the middle of nowhere when you're still only five minutes, ten minutes from Missoula.”
Rory’s grandfather purchased the property in 1944, coming to the Missoula Valley from central Montana. Since, the family has utilized the ranch’s grasslands, creek-bottom meadows, and timber stands to produce beef cattle, raise hay, and harvest timber.
The ranch provides habitat and migration routes for wildlife. Bordering both US Forest Service and private conservation lands, the ranch’s location enables species such as elk, grizzly and black bears, and wolves to move from the Ninemile to the North Hills, and into the Flathead Reservation and Rattlesnake Wilderness beyond. “The property is really a wildlife sanctuary,” says Rory.
For Rory, protecting this special place has been a lifelong dream. At just 19, he bought a portion of the ranch from his father.
“That's when I realized that it might not be here forever. Ever since I’ve asked, what can we do to try and save it? That was one of the reasons why I pursued an easement.”
In early 2023, Rory and his brother, Dean Indreland, reached out to Five Valleys Land Trust to begin the process of placing a perpetual conservation easement on the ranch.
“The Indreland Ranch really has it all. It offers exceptional habitat and connectivity, supports local agriculture, and provides scenic open space visible from town,” says Derek Goble, conservation project manager with Five Valleys Land Trust. “Protecting a place like this is the result of years of trust, patience, and collaboration, and reflects what’s possible when committed landowners and partners come together around a shared vision. It’s been an honor to help make the family's vision for their land a reality.”
The ranch’s many natural values helped Five Valleys secure project funding from several different sources. The project was awarded $1.25M in funding from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's Agricultural Land Easement program.
“One of our top priorities is working to preserve and protect agricultural land to reduce the loss of productive farmland and safeguard the long-term viability of America’s agricultural landscapes,” says Gayle Barry, NRCS State Conservationist. “NRCS goals tie in with those of Montana’s ag producers and the land trusts that help us to implement conservation easement programs like the Agricultural Land Easements that keep farms and ranches operating as the cornerstones of our rural communities.”
The project was also a good fit for the Missoula Open Space Bond program.
"This project checked so many boxes for open space priorities, including crucial wildlife habitat and corridor connections, riparian area protection, and forest and ag land protection," says Missoula County Commissioner Josh Slotnick. "The public support for protecting this special place in the rapidly growing Wye area was apparent and is a big win for our community."
Because of the property’s location on the edge of the City of Missoula, the City and County each expended $344,000 from their portions of the 2018 Missoula Open Space Bond.
“The partnership with the Indrelands exemplifies our community’s commitment to protection of wildlife habitat and corridors while also enhancing family agriculture and timber practices,” says Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis. “As our community grows, it’s essential we have these places for generations to come.”
The project’s importance at a landscape scale also attracted support from two regional conservation organizations.
“This ranch matters to wildlife both in the valley and moving across the entire North American West, it supports the multi-generational ranching heritage of western Montana, and protecting it is good for the future growth of the community. We're honored to be among such great company and collaborators," says Eric Greenwell, senior connectivity specialist at Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.
“High priority, collaboratively-supported, landowner-driven conservation projects like the Indreland Ranch easement are what we exist to support,” says Gavin Ricklefs, Managing Director of Heart of the Rockies Initiative. "We want to express our enormous gratitude to the Indreland family for their vision, land ethic, and commitment to conserving working agriculture and wildlife habitat in partnership with Five Valleys Land Trust.”
The $2.8M project was also made possible by funding from Atira Conservation and contributions from the Indreland family and Five Valleys Land Trust. The land trust will hold the conservation easement in perpetuity while the land remains in the ownership and management of the Indrelands. In the future, the family hopes to use the proceeds from the project to purchase portions of the ranch that were sold over the years, ensuring that more of this landscape is protected for future generations.
“We're trying to rebuild the ranch to the stature it had before my grandad passed,” says Rory. “And provide the same opportunities that I had when I was growing up, to live on a beautiful place, for my kids and grandkids.”
Watch a short video clip about the Indreland Ranch:
Header photo: From left: Hans Hunt, Deputy Director of the NRCS; Brian Ohs Montana Association of Land Trusts ACEP-ALE Easement Liaison; Dean Indreland; Ben Horan, Associate Director of Five Valleys Land Trust; Rory Indreland; Derek Goble, Conservation Project Manager with Five Valleys Land Trust; Whitney Schwab, Executive Director with Five Valleys Land Trust; Justin Meissner, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs with the NRCS; and Charity O'Connor, Board of Directors Member with Five Valleys Land Trust; celebrate the Indreland conservation easement project. Photo by Anastasia Wilde
