Like his father and grandfather before him, Karl Rappold is protective of the many grizzly bears that frequent his scenic ranch adjacent to the Bob Marshall Wilderness. To protect their future, he continues to take steps to protect his family ranch from future development.

About 4,577 acres of the Rappold ranch are covered by conservation easement, most of it with the Conservancy. 

“Karl has as strong a conservation vision as anyone I know. I think it comes from his family’s long-term relationship with the land, built through ranching it since the late 1800s,” says the Conservancy’s Dave Carr.

“The main thing we want is to preserve this ranch the way it has been. We don’t want more houses up here. These big grizzlies won’t be around if there are houses,” says Rappold.

“It’s possible that as many as 15 large grizzlies use the Rappold property,” says Mike Madel, bear biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “Add to that all the major carnivores: wolves, coyotes, mountain lions and wolverines.”

The Conservancy and its partners have begun to complete a protected bridge from the Rappold property to the Boone and Crockett Club’s 6,054-acre Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch, the Kratt Brothers’ 1,222-acre Grizzly Gulch property and the 4,354-acre Hager Ranch, all of which are covered by Conservancy conservation easements. Farther south along the Front, the Conservancy has conservation easements on the Dellwo and Crary ranches and owns

the 16,000-acre Pine Butte Swamp Preserve.

Bears frequent these private lands, around 50,000 acres which are protected through Conservancy conservation easements or ownership. (See "the future looks bright for the Front.")

Not all the folks in the area like the idea of conservation easements. “Some of my neighbors wonder why I’m doing this,” says Karl. “And I say, ‘because I believe in what we’re doing. It’s what I want to see happening on the Front.”

“I think people are misinformed about conservation easements. They think ‘the minute you place an easement on your property they [The Nature Conservancy or other easement holder] will come in and tell you to get the cattle off, and later that they will turn the land over to the government.... “I have people telling me that I merely work for The Nature Conservancy.”

To those who will listen, Karl tells a different story. By selling conservation easements to the Conservancy, he has been able to purchase land adjacent to his ranch and expand his ranch operation. The Rappolds raise certified Angus cattle.

The management of the cattle operation has not been affected by the conservation easements, Karl says.

Since the Rappolds first began working with the Conservancy in 1998, Karl has become more involved in ranching and conservation issues through his participation in the Conservancy’s Rocky Mountain Front Advisory Committee. The group — which includes ranchers, a banker, lawyer, mayor and Extension agent — is working on weed control, grazing programs and a variety of conservation, ranching and land management issues affecting the Front.