Keystone Property in a Conservation Neighborhood
Birdseye Ranch is one of the last large tracts of native grasslands in the Helena Valley. The 1,472-acre property neighbors thousands of acres of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and the state of Montana, plus protected lands owned by Prickly Pear Land Trust, like Tenmile Creek Park.
The native grasslands provide critical habitat for birds, pronghorn, deer, and the occasional elk and moose. A herd of pronghorn antelope fawn here in the spring. Black bears arrive in late summer to feast on ripe chokecherries. Elk move down Granite Creek and Cherry Creek in the winter. A variety of bird species, including curlews, have been spotted at Birdseye year-round.
Open Space Helps the Army Guard Our Country
Birdseye Ranch adjoins Fort Harrison, so it was an open space priority for the Army’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration program. REPI supports the Army’s mission to fight and win by protecting open space around military installations. The REPI program allows bases and other facilities to work with partners like PPLT to conserve land critical to the Army’s ability to train.
Prickly Pear Land Trust acquired Birdseye Ranch with funding from the Army’s REPI program, the Lewis & Clark County Open Space Bond program, and the Montana Fish & Wildlife Conservation Trust. Birdseye Ranch is PPLT’s eighth REPI-funded project.
