Historic Site Preservation Ranches

Undaunted Stewardship® helps preserve important historic sites on privately owned rangeland. So far, the owners of 10 ranches along Montana’s Lewis & Clark Trail have signed formal “Historic Site Preservation Agreements” with the Undaunted Stewardship® program. Similar to conservation easements, these agreements ensure that the historic sites will remain unchanged. The agreements also allow Undaunted Stewardship® to develop free historical exhibits at the sites so that the public can visit and learn from them.

Like all the other ranches that participate in Undaunted Stewardship®, the Historic Site Preservation Ranches have each been certified as an “Undaunted Land Steward.” This means that the ranches follow written grazing management plans that are designed to ensure the long-term, naturally sustained productivity of their rangelands, including fish and wildlife habitat and populations. The ranches also employ site-specific monitoring programs to ensure that these grazing management plans are succeeding, and to direct any needed changes.

Learn more about each Historic Site Preservation Ranch:

Montana map showing locations of current historic site preservation ranches - September, 2005. Convert stars to numbers - get help figuring out which ranch corresponds to which number.

Undaunted Stewardship® is a cooperative and multi-faceted program led by federal, state and private sector agencies, seeking to ensure the long-term maintenance of the environmental quality and economic productivity of privately-owned agricultural landscapes, especially in areas rich in history along the Lewis & Clark Trail in Montana.