Historic Dahlstrom Ranch Conservation Easement Finalized

A conservation easement of historic proportions was purchased in the heart of the Texas Hill Country only a short drive from the Capitol of Texas. Hays County, the City of Austin, and the Hill Country Conservancy (HCC), with funding from the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), came together to purchase a conservation easement on the historic Dahlstrom Ranch, a 2,254-acre privately-owned holding located outside of Buda. This rare collaboration between a private landowner, county, federal agency, and city took shape in 2007 and will be the first private land preservation agreement of its kind. The privately-owned ranch will have the unique distinction of providing a 384-acre area for public education and nature programs proposed by a public access committee led by the National Parks Service and managed by Hays County.

“Through this conservation easement, Gay Dahlstrom, in partnership with Hays County, as guided by Precinct 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton, NRCS, HCC, the City of Austin and many others, has ensured that a majestic piece of the Texas Hill Country will not only survive, but allow our native wildlife and natural resources to thrive,” said David Braun of Braun & Associates, attorneys for Gay Dahlstrom. “Gay is an exceedingly modest and private person, but today she and her family have set a proud and important example for all conservation-minded Texas landowners.” The family’s history on the property dates back five generations. The Dahlstrom Ranch on Onion Creek has played an impressive role in Hays County’s heritage. The property also plays a key role in the area’s overal well-being thanks to its abundant aquifer recharge. The historic ranch features an impressive system of caves and sinkholes that directly convey clean water to the aquifer. Also, following a reduction in livestock grazing in 2005, the ranch’s wildlife habitat and native grasses have staged a welcome comeback.

In recent years, the Dahlstroms, like many other Texas families, were faced with the decision on whether to begin selling off their land to developers in order to pay estate taxes. Gay Dahlstrom chose to preserve the family’s heritage and legacy, retaining Braun & Associates to guide her through the process of obtaining a conservation easement that enabled her family to keep the ranch intact. This contract between property owner and conservation organization, while providing critical tax incentives, also allows the owner to protect the water resources, wildlife habitat, natural character, and other conservation values of the land. A conservation easement restricts the amount and type of development allowed on the property, and conveys the right to enforce these restrictions in perpetuity, while preserving the right to traditional agricultural uses and limited residential use.

“This partnership provides multiple benefits, keeping this land intact for the family’s ongoing use and enjoyment while preserving the unique caves and other karst features of the ranch and furthering enhancement of its ecology and wildlife”, said Frank Davis, Director of Land Stewardship at HCC.

“I am very pleased we are able to partner with Hays County and Hill Country Conservancy on this important project,” said City of Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, a longtime supporter of the use of voter-approved bonds designated for the acquisition of open space.  “As our region continues to grow, it is important that we lead in the effort to protect our natural resources, and acquisitions like this one ensure we are doing our part to protect and enhance our environment, particularly our water quality, and the heritage of the Aquifer region and Texas Hill Country.”

Gay Dahlstrom’s son, Jack Dahlstrom Jr., has plans for ecotourism and nature and wildlife-related art exhibits on the property, with the ultimate goal to further the community’s understanding of, and respect for, the area’s heritage and environment. The Dahlstrom family has a long-term plan for continuing to restore the land and its native wildlife.
“At the end of the day, my mother did this because she loves this land and appreciates all that it has given us,” said Jack Dahlstrom Jr. “Now, it’s our family’s turn to give back to the land, and we appreciate the efforts of everyone who worked so hard to help us make that happen.”

Ask the Expert: Improving Access

Winter provides the perfect opportunity to evaluate access, one of the most practical yet overlooked aspects of sound property management, according to Bill Benton and Robert Chandler, founders of Evolved Outdoors. Their company advises land-intensive recreational businesses such as Bill Dance Signature Lakes and Deer Creek Lodge on how to maximize stewardship, quality of experience, value acceleration, and return on investment.

What’s a good approach for landowners looking to maximize a property’s value?
Too often, land management is split into two distinct camps. On the one hand you’ll have the biology and wildlife camp, which can be all about stewardship. Then there’s the financial camp, which is driven by the real estate market and sales value. A competent landowner needs to adopt an overall philosophy that combines the two to maximum effect.

Give us an example.
Consider access. Most landowners are guilty of simply using whatever roads are on the property they purchased. They do little to no analysis on how the roads run, and why they run the way they do.

What’s wrong with that?
There’s an emotional element to access that translates to value. When you pull onto a property, you want the “Wow!” factor, one that adds to the financial and aesthetic value of your land.

So how do you balance these two approaches?
From a stewardship perspective, roads should allow for wildlife sanctuaries, corridors, and viewing areas. Although you want convenient access to hunting, you also need to maintain contiguous blocks of excellent habitat. Poorly planned roads can degrade habitat, cause erosion, and create the potential for unwanted disturbance.

Why is this time of year a good time to consider access?
Winter allows you the opportunity to view your property without leaf obstruction. You can see the lay of the land in ways you can’t during the growing season. This is the best time to consider ways that access improvements can enhance both the ecological and financial value of your property. You may want to lay out roads to improve the visibility of lakes and ponds or consider separate routes for regular property maintenance and hunting. Access should be controlled to minimize excess or public traffic and to maximize a sense of exclusivity.

What about stewardship? What role does that play?
Always consider natural drainage by working with Mother Nature to minimize erosion. Remember, stewardship equals value, and well-designed access is an important part of that equation.

Heath Shuler: Eye on the Prize

Growing up in the 1970s, Heath Shuler saw quail hunting disappear from the mountains of his native North Carolina. “It occurred to me early on that if I wanted to hunt quail, I might have to buy property with good habitat,” he says.

Nowadays, that’s no small feat, especially in the Southeast where bobwhite populations have been declining for the past half-century due to changing land use. But Heath Shuler has never been a man of modest goals.

BY HENRY CHAPPELL
PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMBER HUMPHRIES & GRETA REYNOLDS
PUBLISHED SUMMER 2009

After a record-setting career as quarterback at the University of Tennessee, a second-place finish in 1993 Heisman Trophy voting, and several years in the NFL, he founded Heath Shuler Realty and grew it into one of the largest independent real estate firms in the South. Naturally, he kept an eye out for the best hunting and fishing properties.

“I’ve always wanted to invest in and be involved with property with excellent wildlife habitat,” he says. “That’s very important to me.”

But it was his career as a football star that led him to his dream property. Several years ago, at the annual Quail Unlimited Celebrity Quail Hunt, Rocky Evans, the organization’s longtime president, told him about a prime quail plantation in South Georgia. In 2003, with the money from the sale of a Knoxville property, he bought a stake in Wynfield Plantation (www.wynfieldplantation.com) in the storied quail country near Albany.

One of only 24 Orvis Endorsed Wingshooting lodges, Wynfield was named the plantation Wingshooting Lodge of the Year in 2005. October through March, Wynfield welcomes quail hunters, their families, and hunting dogs to some of the South’s best quail hunting, sporting clays, dining, and accommodations.

Now imagine the scene: A classy brace of English setters, high on both ends, locked up tight on a covey of bobwhites amid the pines and knee-high sedge. A pair of hunters approach, one with a Labrador retriever at heel. They position themselves for clear shots, and the dog handler sends his Lab in for the flush. The birds whir out the grass, boring away toward the nearest escape cover, trying to put trees between themselves and the hunters. All the while, the setters remain steady. The guns thump four times; four birds fall.

Having stopped at the flush, the Lab marks two of the downed birds. On command, she fetches them both, sitting to deliver. With the “dead bird!” command, the setters snort up the other two birds and bring them to hand before being cast in search of another covey.

A passage from a Nash Buckingham story? Actually, similar scenes play out nearly every fall and winter day at Wynfield Plantation. Heath is serious about his dogs and shooting.

“I started out as a kid hunting squirrels on those steep ridges around home,” he says. “As soon as I got big enough, I graduated to what I consider to be the most challenging game bird in the world – the ruffed grouse. A dog that can handle grouse can handle anything.”

Later, when he wasn’t playing football or closing real estate deals, Heath worked his Labs at the highest levels of amateur field trail competition and field testing. Several of his dogs achieved Master Hunter level in the American Kennel Club testing program.

In 2006, Heath’s schedule went from full to packed when he defeated an eight-term incumbent Republican to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was reelected by a landslide in 2008. He’s a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a caucus of moderate and conservative House Democrats. His district covers most of his home region in the mountains of Western North Carolina. As Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Rural Development, Entrepreneurship, and Trade, he sponsored and shepherded into law the Small Energy Efficient Business Act, which stimulates growth in alternative energy markets by increasing investment in small producers. True to his conservationist sensibilities, he sponsored legislation aimed at developing biomass and carbon trading markets for private forest owners, and he continues to work closely with the Environmental Protection Agency on the assessment and cleanup of a large, contaminated former electronics manufacturing site that threatens water supplies in his home district. He takes stewardship and roots very seriously.

In 2007, realizing that he simply didn’t have time to be involved in the plantation’s day-to-day business, Heath hired his longtime friend Mike Osteen, a veteran professional dog trainer, as general manager and head trainer.

At Wynfield Plantation, Mike and two other trainers work a kennel of English pointers, English Setters, German shorthaired pointers, English cocker spaniels, springer spaniels, Brittanies, and Labrador retrievers. The staff also takes on a limited number of outside dogs for training. Most years, the Wynfield kennel produces several litters of puppies out of championship bloodlines. A few of these pups are chosen to replenish the kennel. The rest are offered for sale. Mike considers, Labs, English setters, and English cockers kennel specialties. Wynfield is a member of the Orvis-Endorsed Breeding and Training program.

Wynfield shooting dogs learn their trade in some of the best quail habitat in the Deep South – nearly 1,900 acres of open longleaf pine uplands and classic Southern bottomland with Spanish moss-draped live oaks. The staff controls encroaching brush and stimulates growth of forbs and legumes through prescribed burning, which mimics the natural, cleansing fires that maintained the open, grassy longleaf ecosystem prior to settlement.

Heath and his guests do most of their hunting on foot, so Wynfield pointing dogs are bred and trained to hunt at medium range: 100 to 200 yards. However, Mike Osteen says that the dogs range as wide or as close as they need to. Mature dogs are steady to wing and shot, and spaniels and retrievers generally stay at heel until sent to flush or retrieve, although they’ll quarter within shotgun range when the situation calls for it.

“I love it when we have multiple birds down so that we can let the Labs and cockers practice blind retrieves,” Heath says. They’ll pick up the ones they mark, and then we’ll handle them to the others.

You read right. English cocker spaniels running blind retrieves: taking lines, sitting at the whistle, and responding to hand signals. Sure, you’d expect that from a decent Lab, but a cocker spaniel? Clearly we’re not talking about the typical neurotic, bug-eyed, coiffed American cocker or even the average working English cocker. This is high-end spaniel work.

But Wynfield welcomes all comers. “By all means, bring your own dogs,” Mike says. “Sure, we’ll provide guides and dogs, but real dog people want to hunt with their own dogs. If your dog has a few problems out in the field, we’ll make suggestions for fixing them, or, if you prefer, we’ll fix them for you. We customize the experience so that everyone feels comfortable.”

That same attitude extends to gunning as well. Wynfield gunsmiths and gun fitters custom build shotguns to individual specification or modify guests’ guns for better fit. Rental guns are also available for guests who chose not to bring a gun.

Heath’s wife, Nikol, though not a hunter, enjoys shooting sporting clays on the Wynfield course. He and his eight year-old son, Navy, hunt with Mike Osteen and his sons, eleven-year-old Grant and nine-year-old John. This past quail season, Navy shot his first quail on the rise. “He’d been watching the older boys and was waiting for his chance,” Heath says. His first bird, on the wing, over a good dog, is a huge deal. Now he’s hooked. He’s a hunter for life.”

Ultimately, Heath’s relationship with his land is about creating memories. “Nowadays, my kids get all excited about staying in ‘their cabin,’ or sleeping in ‘their bunk.’ My four year-old daughter, Island, fishes in the lake and gets to ride on the four wheeler.”

“For Heath, the dog training and hunting really serve as an escape from the pressures of Washington and the demands of his business, and gives him a chance to spend time with his family,” Mike says. “I’ve known Heath for a long time, and he’s more mesmerized by this place than by anything else he’s experienced.

Considering Heath Shuler’s experiences so far, that’s saying something.

Sold! Steamboat’s Perry Ranch

A well-known Rocky Mountain landmark, Colorado’s 470-acre Perry Ranch, sold for $11 million ($23,000+ per acre). The sellers paid $13 million for the Routt County ranch in 2007 intending to improve it and then market it as a conservation development property, but last year’s recession squelched those plans. Hall & Hall’s Brian Smith in Steamboat Springs represented the seller. Tim Casey of Mountain Marketing Associates in Breckenridge represented the buyer. The transaction closed on June 30.

The original asking price of $25 million dropped to $19.5 million and then to $16 million last year when the economy tanked. “This sale is very indicative of what we’re now seeing: 15 to 25 percent off market highs,” says Smith, referring to the spread between the sellers’ purchase price in 2007 and the 2009 sale.

“Buyers who are not trying to pinpoint the bottom of the market can find all sorts of opportunities. A lot of sellers, particularly those with a higher basis in a property, are recognizing current market conditions and adjusting their asking price,” says Smith. “What made this property such an outstanding opportunity was the size of the parcel and its proximity to downtown Steamboat Springs. The south fence line is literally one mile to the city limits. One minute you’re tucked away by yourself in a lush little valley with aspen groves and Soda Creek. Hop in your truck and five minutes later you’re on Main Street. Best of both worlds. It’s extremely difficult to find that combination near a resort town, whether it’s Steamboat, Vail, Aspen, Telluride, Jackson, or Sun Valley.”

For Sale: 19,079-Acre Pineywoods Mitigation Bank in East Texas

One of the largest wetland mitigation banks in the nation is on the market. Located in Angelina, Jasper, and Polk Counties, the Pineywoods Mitigation Bank is currently the largest wetland mitigation bank in Texas and is fully permitted with the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The Pineywoods Mitigation Bank is the result of six years of cooperation between The Conservation Fund and GMO Renewable Resources, entities that have spent more than $2 million extracting all of the permitting and execution risk out of the project.

A contiguous block of 19,079 acres of valuable habitat, the bank is located in the middle of the Neches River basin and provides a corridor between the Davy Crocket and the Angelina National Forests. Its large size and the concentration of sensitive wetland habitat on 13,000 acres are two of its many distinctions.

The Conservation Fund and GMO Renewable Resources seek to sell the bank as a whole to a buyer who can fully focus on the monetization of the $85 million in potential credit value. The estimated net present value of the wetland mitigation credits is about $40 million with an 18% discount rate.

“Pineywoods Mitigation Bank is truly a unique piece of property managed for the conservation of natural resources while providing mitigation opportunities,” says Tom Margo, Director of Real Estate Sales at AFM Real Estate, the listing broker. The owners recognized the importance of this area and put a plan in place focused on conservation and enhancement. All of the necessary approvals and permits are in place, a rare find for a property of this size and with these characteristics.”

The timeline for the bidding process is as follows:
• Indicative offers due September 1, 2009.
• Binding offers with deposit due November 1, 2009
• Closing prior to December 31, 2009.

For additional information, go to the Pineywoods Mitigation Bank website. For details of the sale, review the following letter from GMO Renewable Resources. For more information about AFM Real Estate, visit their website.

Duke Energy Makes Major Investment in GreenTrees

Duke Energy has become the lead investor in GreenTrees, a privately managed forest restoration program created and managed by C2I for landowners in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley: Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

This enormous valley once held 24.7 million acres of forest and emergent wetlands. Today more than 18 million acres – or 80 percent – has been cleared, resulting in the loss of critical natural habitat.

The program is expected to generate high-quality, verifiable carbon offsets that Duke believes will help reduce the overall cost of compliance with federal climate change legislation. Duke’s initial investment will result in the planting of more than 1 million trees on approximately 1,700 acres in Arkansas.

GreenTrees is designed to create, enhance, and sustain conservation and wildlife benefits from afforestation. GreenTrees provides landowners the most economic and environmental value for each acre of trees planted. The program utilizes a specific inter-planting of 302 cottonwoods plus 302 mixed hardwoods per acre. The specific design of 302/302 delivers more conservation value, more carbon, and better sustainable hardwood revenues than a previous design of 302 cottonwood and 151 hardwoods.

In exchange for the landowners’ long-term lease to prevent reversibility, GreenTrees offers a variety of short and long-term income opportunities. Landowners can simultaneously enroll the same qualified acres into GreenTrees, CRP, and other conservation practices, thus receiving multiple financial incentives and incomes together.

GreenTrees was founded by Izaak Walton League of America board member Carey Crane and Texaco Chevron Conservation Award recipient Chandler Van Voorhis. Both men have received great inspiration from Crane’s mother, Maggie Bryant. Bryant is a past-two term Chairperson of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and retired from her board position in 2001. She has been awarded the prestigious Chevron Conservation Award as well as the Governor’s Award for Conservation in Mississippi, and she continues to be active in conservation measures around the world.

Landowners are enthusiastic about GreenTrees. Arkansas landowner Brandon Stafford is a recent enrollee. Stafford found himself with 210 acres of un-irrigated farmland that he had to do something with. He enrolled it in CRP and GreenTrees. After the initial planting and subsequent sprayings Brandon says, “It’s amazing what the trees are doing.” The CRP and GreenTrees programs work in concert for him. Currently over 2,500 acres from 20 landowners are enrolled in the program.

To learn more about GreenTrees, visit their website: www.green-trees.com.

170 Acres on the Block Saturday in Illinois

Update: The complete tract of land went unsold during the brief auction. The first tract at 50 acres was passed on at $120,000, the second tract at 40 acres was unsold at $96,000 and the third tract at 80 acres was unsold at $192,000. A combination of all three tracts was passed on as well.

170 acres, broken up into three tracts of 50, 40 and 80 acres, goes on the block Saturday in Marion County, IL. The land can be used both for hunting and CRP income. Buy A Farm Land and Auction Co. will host the bidding.

The minimum opening bids on the property start at $2,400 an acre.

Located on Blackburn Road, 15 minutes from I-57 in Centralia, the property could be a solid buy if you happened to scoop up all three parcels. Each has a decent CRP income; they total about $6,500 per year. According to the listing, deer abound on the property.

This would make a nice long weekend retreat for hunters in St. Louis or Chicago.

Bids will be taken at the Iuka Grade School or online. 10% down is required at the end of the auction with the balance at closing.

Western Massachusetts to Become National Forest?

Former Governor Mitt Romney’s proposal to designate the Berkshires and all of Western Massachusetts as national forest is being considered once again. Massachusetts is one of just six states without national forest designation, a situation the Romney administration sought to counter in 2003.

A key aspect of the proposal being considered is that the federal government would not acquire any private land. Instead, it would seek easements from local property owners to restrict development and thus allow the land to remain on tax rolls.

The proposed Massachusetts model, which is being called a “family-forest based” designation, is being pitched as a partnership between private landowners, the state, and the federal government.

“”Landowners would retain the rights to own the lands, but sell their right to develop it,” said Lisa Capone of the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. “The land also remains a working forest, with some level of access to outdoor recreation and protection from commercial development. Massachusetts would be the first state to have the land-easement concept.”

Tour the Flying D With Ted Turner

Want an opportunity to meet the top gun on The Land Report 100 on one of his many ranches? Now you can, thanks to a Montana fundraiser. Tickets to tour Ted Turner’s 119,000-acre Flying D Ranch are still available, and they’re going for $1,500. Proceeds go to the Greater Yellowstone Coalition; Turner is a board member.

Your $1,500 fee gets you a driving tour of the ranch from the nation’s largest landowner, cocktails on his back porch, and a dinner featuring ranch-raised bison. Turner has the world’s largest private herd of bison, which he raises on the Flying D and markets through his restaurant concept, Ted’s Montana Grill, with over 50 locations in 18 states.

At last report 10 of the 60 tickets remained.

Read more at:
“Enviro Group Plans Fundraiser at Turner Ranch,” Billings Gazette, June 5, 2009.

Madeleine Pickens Presents Eco-Sanctuary Plan to BLM

Madeleine Pickens is no ordinary horsewoman. A lifelong equestrian, she has led numerous champions into the winner’s circle, including the Hall of Fame Thoroughbred Cigar, winner of 16 consecutive races. Now she is championing a new cause: America’s wild horses.

“Wild horses are a living symbol of the pioneering spirit of Americans and the America West,” she says. Her goal is to establish a 501(c)(3) eco-sanctuary for all horses currently in holding facilities on BLM lands. Similar to a national park, it would be a tourist attraction as well as a refuge. To that end she has submitted a proposal to the Bureau of Land Management to create a public/private partnership that would not only locate appropriate land with sufficient forage and water sources but allow wild horses and burros to be free‐roaming and able to form natural bands.

“While the primary objective of the project is to care for these wonderful creatures, we will also be stewards of the land,” she says.

In March during hearings on H.R. 1018, Restoring Our American Mustangs (the ROAM Act), Pickens testified before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Committee on Natural Resources. She has also submitted a plan to initially alleviate conditions for 10,000 wild horses currently being penned in BLM short-term holding facilities.

“My view is for a wild horse sanctuary that will be a tourist destination similar to our national parks where Americans and tourists from around the world can come, observe and be a part of this great part of American history. We can use this treasure to promote ecotourism and at the same time provide for permanent retirement and management of these American icons to which we owe so much,” she says.

To that end, she is urging those who cherish the wild mustang and support her initiative to contact Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to stop the slaughter and confinement America’s wild horses and burros.

To join the thousands who have already petitioned Secretary Salazar as well as read more about her plan, The Land Report encourages you to visit her website.

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