Land Trust News

Kelly Kountz Photo / Courtesy of Gallatin Valley Land Trust

Montana Land Reliance, Raths Family, NRCS and State Sage Grouse Program Team Up in Central Montana

The State of Montana and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service have both made sage grouse habitat conservation top priorities, and so have The Montana Land Reliance and the Raths Ranch near Roundup.

Landowners Jeff and Bea Raths partnered with MLR, NRCS and the Montana Sage Grouse Habitat Conservation Program to place a conservation easement on 11,230 acres of their ranch to help maintain healthy sage grouse habitat and populations.

The NRCS featured the Raths and the conservation easement on the Montana NRCS website, and the Raths also received a 2019 conservation award from MLR. Montana is working hard to retain state authority of sage grouse, and projects like this will help the state achieve that goal.