Kamps Ranches Conserved: 2,267 Acres Near Gallatin Gateway Forever Protected

Kamps Ranches

Gallatin Valley Land Trust has partnered with the Kamps family to conserve their 2,267-acre ranch located west of the Gallatin River between Four Corners and Gallatin Gateway. The Kamps worked with GVLT to establish a conservation easement on their property, ensuring the beautiful and productive land will remain forever open and available for the family’s next generations to continue agricultural operations. Kamps Ranches is a dryland farm that produces wheat and barley. Perched atop Pine Butte, the ranch offers stunning open space views from many areas in the Gallatin Valley, including Highway 191, Peets Hill in Bozeman, and even central Belgrade.

The ranch has been in the family since 1940 when Louis Kamps Jr.’s grandfather purchased the land. Louis, who now owns and operates the ranch, grew up farming the land with his father and plans to pass operations to his son. He chose to establish the conservation easement to keep the working ranch intact and in the family.

“We knew we either had to sell the property or put an easement on it to keep it in our family,” says Louis.

It was a difficult decision for Louis, but ultimately, he and his family wanted to stay in a community and on the land where they have strong ties and deep roots.

With rising property values, many landowners face this same dilemma as they make plans to pass their working farms and ranches to the next generation. Conservation easements provide these families with an efficient and effective tool to preserve open space, instead of having to fragment their property to retain ownership and keep land in production.

“I have never wanted to break it up, because you don’t know what will happen to it,” explains Louis.

Located in a historic part of Gallatin County, Kamps Ranches is surrounded by other agricultural operations and conserved land. The property also provides important native grassland habitat for numerous species of wildlife including critical winter range for elk and mule deer. It’s adjacent to four state-owned public land parcels and one conservation easement. Three additional conservation easements are within one mile and well over 100,000 acres of conserved open space is located within five miles, which includes the nearby Flying D Ranch. Kamps Ranches adds to this large expanse of conserved open space and serves to connect multiple protected parcels and create a large, diverse, and connected block of wildlife habitat.

“This property is connected to thousands of acres of conserved land which made it a prime candidate for conservation,” explains Brendan Weiner, GVLT Conservation Director. “We are extremely grateful to Louis and his family. This conservation easement will go a long way to protecting the agricultural heritage and wildlife resources in this part of Gallatin County.”

The Kamps donated a substantial amount of property value to create the easement. This donation and funding from the Gallatin County Open Lands Program were matched with funds from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

“We have a strong, effective group of land trusts like GVLT here in Montana that work with us and with private landowners to protect working agricultural lands that contribute to wildlife habitat, open space, and local economies,” explains Shawna Taylor, NRCS Montana Acting Assistant State Conservationist for Easements.

Gallatin County Commissioner Jennifer Boyer continues, “We extend our deep gratitude and recognize the extraordinary commitment of the Kamps family to ensure the legacy of agriculture and healthy landscapes for our wildlife, community, and quality of life. The Open Lands program is only successful because of the vision and commitment of families like the Kamps. This project exemplifies the goals and values of the program and our community—it knocks it out of the park.”

Gallatin County voters renewed funding for the local Open Lands Program in 2018.

The Kamps Ranches project represents GVLT’s 131st conservation easement. Since 1990, GVLT has partnered with families to forever protect over 70,000 acres of some of the most highly productive, scenic, and wildlife-rich lands in southwest Montana.

Previous
Previous

Painted Hills Gets a Fresh Coat

Next
Next

Guest Column: An Unexpected, But Magical Partnership