Historic Darby ranch preserved with conservation easement

One hundred eighty-three acres of prime Darby ranch land was recently protected with a conservation easement, and a chunk of Bitterroot Valley history along with it.

The farmhouse that sits on the Lazy KD Ranch just north of Darby is a local landmark, visible from U.S. Highway 93, which now divides the original property. The land was purchased in 1892 by Frank and Mary Cook and has played an important role in Darby’s formation. The foyer of the farmhouse once served as the Darby post office, and the original dirt road to Lake Como wanders through the property. The Cook family also donated the land for the Como Schoolhouse built in 1902. The 124-year-old schoolhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 2022.

Four generations later, the family has given another gift to the valley — a promise the agricultural land used for haying and cattle grazing for more than 100 years will never be developed, protecting not only Darby’s ranching heritage but its history as well.

Les Durland and his siblings, great-grandchildren of Frank and Mary Cook, completed placing the historic ranch under a conservation easement with help from the Bitter Root Land Trust (BRLT) in early March.

“The Durland family has supported the community of Darby with their generosity since the beginning,” said Lauren Rennaker, BRLT Executive Director. “For Bitterroot landowners like the Durlands who have been stewards of working lands for more than 100 years, their legacy has shaped our community and our valley’s agricultural and ranching heritage that is critically important to protect.”

Along with its historical ties, an important piece of agricultural infrastructure in the valley also sits on the property. The siphon for the Bitterroot River Irrigation District’s Big Ditch is located on the property, providing irrigation water from Lake Como to thousands of acres of agricultural lands in the Bitterroot Valley.

The property also serves as winter range for elk and mule deer and supports other wildlife including moose, black bears and Species of Concern such as great blue heron, bald eagle, golden eagle, and Lewis' woodpecker.

“When I suggested to my siblings, Larry, Marti and Melanie, that we consider putting a conservation easement on the ranch, we both agreed because it was important to us that it will always remain a ranch,” Durland said. “We were fortunate that the Bitter Root Land Trust existed and was able to help achieve our goals.”

With the recent closing of the Lazy KD Ranch conservation easement, 15,212 acres of open land in the Bitterroot Valley has been conserved by BRLT and 70 local families, according to the land trust. It also marks more than 4,000 acres of completed and in-progress conservation easements in the Darby/Como corridor.

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement that allows landowners to retain ownership and management of their property while protecting the land with certain development and use restrictions. The Lazy KD Ranch will be protected from commercial or residential development in perpetuity to preserve habitat and agricultural land.

“The conservation easement tool that the Land Trust utilizes is just one of many tools in the conservation toolbox, and it has evolved significantly since its inception,” said Melissa Odell, BRLT Lands Director. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all model. Because all of the properties we work to conserve are unique, as are the conservation objectives of the landowner, we have the ability to customize conservation easements to best suit each project. That means landowners can choose to protect all or part of their property, giving them the option to allow for construction of a house, barn, fence or other important agricultural structures down the line.”

The Lazy KD Ranch easement was funded by local bond dollars from the Ravalli County Open Lands Bond Program, the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Agricultural Land Easement (ALE) program and landowner donation.

“We are grateful that the Durland family will always be a part of the Bitterroot Valley,” Durland said. “If not in person, definitely in mind.”