Location: Lemhi, IDaho on Hayden Creek.
Land Size: 1,040 acres
Year Completed: 2011
Owned and operated by long time Lemhi residents, the Tonsmeire Family, the Hayden Creek Ranch conservation easement was completed in mid-2011 as part of a multi-year, two property project. In exchange for a conservation easement on the Hayden Creek Ranch, ownership of the 585 acre Kenney Creek Ranch was then transferred to the Tonsmeires.
The Hayden Creek Ranch in particularly unique in that in the Lemhi Basin, fifty percent of the documented salmon spawning activity has been documented on Hayden Creek. Of the spawning activity occurring on Hayden Creek, up to half of that has been observed on the Hayden Creek Ranch, making the protection of this critical habitat for fish such as the one shown below a priority. Located above the Adams Ranch, this easement marks LRLT’s second easement on Hayden Creek. The Hayden Creek Ranch conservation easement provides for the continuation of ranching and agricultural activities and helps to protect the water quality and quantity in Hayden Creek. Additionally, functioning riparian and wetland ecosystems and spawning and rearing habitat for anadromous and resident fish will be preserved.
