2,004 acres of Dunham Ranch conserved in Sublette County
by Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust
November 4, 2021
The Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust, in partnership with Miller Land Livestock Company, has conserved 2,004 acres of the Dunham Ranch near Big Piney, Wyoming through an agricultural conservation easement.
The Dunham Ranch has a rich history as one of the earliest homesteads in the Big Piney area and boasts the most senior water rights in Cottonwood Creek, making the ranch highly productive during even the toughest of years. The property is within greater sage-grouse core area and provides medium use and stopover habitat within the Sublette Mule Deer Migration Corridor. This conservation easement will promote continued agricultural use and protect the incredible open space and wildlife habitat values of the property. The Stock Growers Land Trust is proud to partner with the Miller Family as they further their agricultural legacy in Sublette County.
The purchase of this conservation easement was funded by the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust (WWNRT), the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Knobloch Family Foundation (KFF). Nicole Korfanta, Executive Director of KFF commented on the project, "The Knobloch Family Foundation is delighted to help protect the Dunham Ranch in perpetuity. With almost four miles of Cottonwood Creek flowing through the ranch, it provides exceptional riparian wildlife habitat for a host of wildlife species. We’re also honored to partner with the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust as well as the Millers, who are excellent stewards of the land."
Echoing the Knobloch Family Foundation comments, Bob Budd, Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust Executive Director, added "This is another great project completed in Sublette County. The Miller family is one of the oldest ranching families in Wyoming, and their commitment to agriculture and the environment is unparalleled. This particular ranch is a critical piece of the landscape there, and has habitat for everything from frogs to moose, along with a very rich history. Congratulations to the Land Trust and the Millers!"
The landowners, Mike and Tara Miller, recognize the value of preserving this land for future agricultural use as well, remarking, "The Dunham Ranch is a very unique and beautiful old historical Wyoming Ranch. We are very glad that it will remain a ranch and in the hands of ranchers and cowboys, hopefully forever. All this thanks to the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust’s hard work and dedication- the ranch will be assured to remain a wonderful place for open spaces, wildlife, livestock and conservation."
The Stock Growers Land Trust deeply appreciates the continued partnership of the WWNRT, NRCS, and KFF and the partnership with the Miller family. With the completion of this project, WSGLT has partnered with landowners to protect agricultural uses, open space, and habitat on 287,704 acres statewide with 74,704 of those acres in Sublette County.
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