In honor of PLT’s 30th year we are looking back at some firsts. Below is a story about PLT’s first Conservation Easement by PLT’s Executive Director, Craig Utter.
Two years after the formation of the Payette Land Trust the new organization closed their first ever easement on December 14th, 1995.
Located within the City of McCall and surrounded by multiple subdivisions on three sides, The Whiteman is 40 acres of private property creating a vestige of open space protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement. It can be described as a mountain meadow, laying between natural ridges to the west and gently flowing timberland to the east. A mixture of timber and open grassland covers the property. The wooded portions contain trees indigenous to Central Idaho such as aspen, ponderosa and Douglas fir. The meadow is a quilt of grass, brush and wildflowers which receive subirrigation from Williams Creek as it traverses the property.
Williams Creek runs seasonally, and depending on snowpack and rain, typically dries up by early July to early August. The creek emanates from the Bear Basin area located across Highway 55 to the north of the property. It also provides for numerous riparian zones which enhance the wildlife habitat and the variety of vegetation on the land.
The vegetation and topography of the property provide ideal cover for wildlife; and the low-density nature of the residential area to the north make The Whiteman prime habitat for elk as well as other wildlife indigenous to the area.
A lot has changed in the City of McCall since 1995, but one thing’s for sure…This property hasn’t!