The family purchased their 320 Kelly Canyon acres from the original homesteaders back in 1954. They arrived with four young children, who, with their parents, helped to build one of the two houses that still stands on the property. They pulled the weathered wood from an old barn and used it as siding on the new house – an example of the conservation ethic that the family still lives by today. Back then, they couldn’t see another building from theirs; today, houses dot the landscape, but their easement helps maintain the open beauty of Kelly Canyon and protect the abundant and varied wildlife that lives on and passes through their land. The Visscher property is part of an important wildlife connectivity corridor between the north Gallatin Mountains and the southern Bridgers, and provides habitat for elk, deer, moose, black bear, beaver, coyote, red fox, badger, and countless species of birds.