photo: Keith Fialcowitz
“ As the owners of this historical and productive ranch, we believe that preserving the family heritage and protecting the agricultural way of life in the Bitterroot Valley is the best legacy that we can leave to the Valley and the memories of those who believed in the value of the land a source of food and a grand environment in which to raise a family.”
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Jennie Wood Farley and Laurie Wood-Gundlach
Wood Family Ranch
The 265 acre Wood Family Ranch is located amongst numerous working farms northeast of Corvallis, Montana. The property is comprised of and has been managed for productive agriculture under the Wood family’s ownership for four generations. The property includes 199 acres of irrigable pasture approximately 180 of which are productive hay grounds. The property is near more than 1,200 acres of conserved private land and will help anchor long-term protection of one of the Bitterroot Valley’s longest standing and most productive agricultural areas.
History: In 1896 Albert Wood and his family began agricultural operations on fertile land between Corvallis and Stevensville in the Bitterroot Valley. Generations later, Albert’s great granddaughters and current owners, Jennie Wood Farley and Laurie Wood-Gundlach, preserved the agricultural nature of the Wood Family Ranch by partnering with the Bitter Root Land Trust to execute a conservation easement protecting their land.
photo: Keith Fialcowitz
"My Dad grew up on a ranch in Frenchtown in the early 1900’s. Put himself through college partially by trapping and was truly an outdoorsman of the original style. His delight in owning this property was to see the animals and to experience the secluded nature of this land. It reminded him of his roots. As testimony to his love of the land, his ashes were dispersed over the land when he passed away in 2004. It is with this memory and legacy that preservation of the ranch is undertaken."
- Joe Grover, 2/28/2008
Sawtooth Ranch
The Sawtooth Ranch is an 840-acre piece of prime Westside wildlife habitat. Sawtooth Ranch is located approximately two miles southwest of Hamilton and is comprised of varied habitat, including Sawtooth and Owings Creeks, various forested wetlands and created ponds, significant elk winter range, Ponderosa pine forest, and irrigated pasture. Sawtooth Ranch presents a truly unique conservation opportunity: A large, intact ecosystem close to Ravalli County’s largest population center.
photo: Keith Fialcowitz
“…stewardship to leave a lasting impression of open space for future generations to know there is still another last, best place.” The Swartz’ “deep desire to keep the land intact will be a reminder of the inherent beauty, serenity, and peacefulness open space offers to wildlife, common agriculture and the human spirit.”
-Stan and Sherry Swartz, 2/16/2009
Lost Horse Creek Ranch
The 409-acre Lost Horse Creek Ranch stretches along both sides of 1.5 miles of Lost Horse Creek. The Lost Horse Creek Ranch is located approximately nine miles south of Hamilton off of Lost Horse Road, one mile west of Highway 93. The Ranch includes working agricultural ground, diverse wildlife habitat, and scenic views of the Como Peaks from Lost Horse Road. Irrigated hay fields, Ponderosa and Lodgepole pine-dominated forests, intact riparian areas of Lost Horse and Moose Creeks, wetlands, and high mountain grasslands provide a host of conservation benefits on the Lost Horse Creek Ranch. Importantly, the property is the largest single ownership in the Lost Horse drainage.