Conservation Easement Secured on Historic Idaho Ranch

CAREY, Idaho (KLIX)-A stretch of ranch land along the foothills of the Pioneer Mountains near Carey will be preserved from development for many years to come after public land managers secured a conservation easement.

The Bureau of Land Management and The Nature Conservancy announced the agreement with the Cenarrusa Ranch ahead of the new year. The agreement locks in a little more than three miles of motorized and non-motorized access across 7,691 acres on the historic working ranch that has critical wildlife habitat and migration corridors through it.

Officials say the easement was purchased through the High Divide Collaborative out of The Land and Water Conservation Fund that comes from royalties from offshore oil leases. The easement has taken several years of work by officials at the Shoshone Field Office and The Nature Conservancy of Idaho.

“I’m really proud of this project—the acquisition of this conservation easement is significant as we have now secured public access for recreation and hunting opportunities,” said Shoshone Field Manager Codie Martin in a prepared statement. “By working together, we have guaranteed a working ranch and farm will always be what it is today and the local economy will be able to continue to depend on its agriculture and livestock production.”

The ranch boarders the Pioneer Mountains and Craters of the Moon National Monument.