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Johnston Ranch Easement Continues Family Tradition of Conservation

In December of 2007, Dr. Glenn and Hazel Johnston finalized an easement with Flathead Land Trust on their ranch off Columbia Falls Stage Road.  At 682 acres, it is the largest single-ownership easement ever executed in the Flathead Valley bottom.  The Johnstons' actions preserve this incredible property for generations to come, but their motivation in placing the easement was deeply rooted in the past and five generations of Johnstons who loved this land.

Glenn's grandfather Lee crossed the plains with his family in the 1870s.  He settled in the Gallatin Valley, and then in 1883, headed north to Flathead Valley with his brother Reuben.  A resourceful and ambitious man, Lee took on tough jobs to earn a living in those days.  Using oxen, he plowed up the sod in the Creston area and freighted over primitive roads along Flathead Lake and through Bad Rock Canyon.  In 1885, Lee homesteaded 160 acres of the current Johnston ranch property, and built a cabin there. His brother Reuben homesteaded 160 acres just north of Lee’s.  Lee and his wife Alberta eventually built a ranch house and raised five children there.  One of those children was Glenn’s father, also named Glenn.

During the 1920s Glenn Sr. began buying fur for John Lewis, who owned the Lake McDonald Hotel among other enterprises.  Lewis died about 1934, and Glenn Sr. started his own business, becoming the largest fur buyer in northwestern Montana.  Around that same time he had the opportunity to buy 160 acres of wooded river islands and bottomland from the Somers Lumber Company.  He also bought the original ranch property from his siblings and several other parcels of river bottom, eventually owning 700 acres in all.  Throughout his life, his wife Harriet worked hard to support his efforts.

“My dad spent his whole lifetime on the ranch, and by the time of his death in 1965 I think he knew every tree,” said Glenn.  “His pioneer spirit made him a Republican in his political philosophy, but he was very much an environmentalist.”

Glenn Jr. was always concerned about what would become of the ranch and, along with his wife Hazel, hoped to eventually own the land in order to keep it intact.  Glenn’s mother and sister Marjorie also hoped to preserve the family ranch, and in 1982 they sold their interest to Glenn and Hazel.

Though he now owned the land, Glenn’s worries turned to whether he could hold on to the place.  The Johnston family—Glenn, Hazel, son Mark, daughter-in-law Joan, and granddaughter Katie, all loved the ranch.   They saw the benefits of placing a conservation easement, but wanted to wait for the right timing.  The improved tax benefits of 2007 helped inspire him and Hazel to get it done last year and they began to work with Flathead Land Trust. The tax benefits, said Glenn, were “a motivator but not a big one. The big motivation was to conserve the place intact.”

When asked whether he sees their conservation easement taking away options from his heirs, Glenn responded, “A conservation easement takes away the option we wanted taken away, subdivision. There are still plenty of options.”  He continued, “In placing a conservation easement on our place I have reduced Mark, Joan and Katie’s financial inheritance, but I think I am giving them something that is more valuable.”

For more information about the Johnston easement and their family tradition of conservation, see the full article in our Spring 2008 newsletter.

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