Park County planning board recommends Mill Creek conservation easement to commission

The Park County Planning Board voted Feb. 19 to recommend that the county commission consider a conservation easement for a 437-acre property in the Mill Creek drainage.

Cole Herbman, representing Northern Yellowstone Open Lands (a regional initiative of the Gallatin Valley Land Trust), presented the easement and said the parcel includes just over 130 acres of hay ground and roughly 300 acres of native rangeland that the trust has identified as critical winter wildlife range. Herbman said the easement would keep the property whole (no divisions allowed), establish two building envelopes (a 10-acre ranch headquarters envelope and a 2-acre roadside envelope) and limit future commercial uses to agriculture-related activities.

"This is a multi-generational family ranch," Herbman said, noting the Nicholson family’s intent to preserve agricultural uses and scenic values. He also told the board that Montana Code Annotated requires land trusts to notify the local planning authority so the authority may provide advisory comments on compatibility with comprehensive planning.

Board members asked clarifying questions about adjacency to other conserved lands and impacts on county revenues. Herbman replied that a conservation easement does not change the property tax status determined by the state tax assessor. With no public comment, the chair called a voice vote; the board approved recommending the easement and directed planning staff to draft a letter of recommendation to the county commission for the chair’s signature.

The recommendation is advisory; final authority rests with the Park County Commission when it reviews staff’s recommendation and the easement terms.