BOZEMAN– The Montana Land Reliance (MLR) announces the completion of a conservation easement with Milo Todd to permanently protect his 146-acre Gallatin County property from future development. This furthers conservation wins in an ever-growing area of numerous private landowners partnering with land trusts to keep land intact for all future generations.
By partnering with the Todd family on this conservation easement, MLR is helping to protect valuable open space, scenic views, and high-quality, productive agricultural soils in the Gallatin Valley, which is seeing explosive growth and development pressure.
Milo Todd’s farm also includes significant open space that provides scenic views for the public traveling along Montana Hwy 84/Norris Road west of Four Corners. The farm’s rolling fields are home to whitetail and mule deer as well as various songbirds. Yellow Dog Creek traverses the property, eventually flowing into the Gallatin River.
“Permanently protecting the Todd family farmland is a crucial win for conservation, protecting acreage that is at extreme risk for subdivision and development,” said Kathryn Kelly, MLR Greater Yellowstone Manager. “The farming tradition of the Todd family will continue and Milo’s gift of preserving that for future generations will benefit us all.”
Four generations of the Todd family were dairy farmers in the Gallatin Valley. Now 93 years-old, Milo leases part of the land to a neighbor who grows alfalfa, wheat, barley, and corn for their nearby dairy operation. His son and grandson utilize the rest primarily for cattle grazing.
The goal of the Todd family is to keep the land for agricultural use and in the family for Milo’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren. At the closing of the easement Milo said, “I’m still living on the place I was born on in 1930, and I’m glad it won’t be subdivided and can stay in the family.”
The Todds led MLR’s Greater Yellowstone Manager Kathryn Kelly in 4-H when she was a child, making this a special project for Kathryn to tie the agricultural family values Milo and his late wife Carol taught to local kids to the land in perpetuity.
The conservation project received funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Agricultural Land Easement Program and the Gallatin County Open Lands Program, vital resources for helping farmers and ranchers in the Gallatin Valley conserve land.
Founded in Montana in 1978, The Montana Land Reliance has grown to be one of the largest private nonprofit land trusts in the country. MLR has partnered with nearly 1,000 families to protect over 1.3 million acres of private land that forms the fabric of Montana’s local communities. To learn more visit www.mtlandreliance.org or call 406.370.8816.
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