When 93-year old Victor rancher, Jeane Lippert, approached the Bitter Root Land Trust to inquire about protecting her 70-acre ranch in perpetuity, her motivations were made clear.
“I fell in love with the ranch when I moved here in 1964, and I’ve lived here ever since. It’s beautiful…. it restores my soul when I can sit and look out and feel the warmth of the land. I wanted to preserve it.”
The ranch is located on Victor’s westside and in proximal location to 2,040+ acres of agricultural land and wildlife habitat conserved by landowners in partnership with BRLT. The property features a combination of timbered area, pond, spring, riparian area, and irrigated and dry agricultural land, which Jeane continues to work with her tractor.
“I got a tractor when I turned 80. I still irrigate with it in the fields, I use a backhoe now instead of tarps, but I still get out and work it. I think it’s good for your soul.”
The property provides a diverse habitat for wildlife including elk, deer, fox, Canada geese, ducks, Sandhill crane, bobolink, Great Horned Owls, great blue heron, golden eagle, Lewis’s woodpeckers and pileated woodpeckers. The culturally significant Bitterroot flower can also be found growing there.
“Our whole valley is a rare place, and I think we need to preserve all we can. And maybe people will appreciate it later,” said Jeane. “Just being a part of this is important to me, it makes me feel like I’m contributing to conserving part of the agricultural area and the land.”
The project was made possible in part by landowner donation, funding from the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), a grant awarded to the Bitter Root Land Trust that provides funding to open lands of smaller acreage that would not otherwise qualify for traditional federal funding sources, and the Ravalli County Open Lands Bond Program, a $10M bond that was renewed by Ravalli County voters in 2022.
“When we first started talking about the conservation easement, I was concerned that I would have to mortgage a place in order to pay to conserve my property for this to happen,” said Jeane. “I didn’t realize that I was going to financially benefit from it, and it really took me several meetings to realize it. The comfort that I feel from saving it now is a benefit.”
Thanks to Jeane’s desire to protect her property with a conservation easement, one more piece of the Victor agricultural puzzle will remain forever unchanged for future generations to enjoy.
“I think that every person needs to do something in their life to contribute to what we’ve got here. And I feel like I’ve got a little bit of it done.”
