Six miles north of the four-way stop on Main Street in Belgrade, Montana, the fastest growing city in the state, is the MZ Bar ranch. Its 1,400 acres belong to Tom Milesnick, the third generation of his family to own and work this land. The MZ Bar is primarily a cattle ranch (about 500 head run here), but it also produces hay and various grains.

Undoubtedly the Milesnick property’s most abundant resource–and likely the most valuable by any measure–is its natural beauty. More than five miles of the East Gallatin River runs through the ranch along with the Benhart and the Thompson creeks, two spring-fed watering places, which make this a prime trout-fishing stronghold. Sharing the land is a rich array of wildlife: whitetail deer, fox, coyote, pelicans, blue heron, pheasants, sand hill cranes, bald eagles and an assortment of songbirds. Surrounding the ranch are the Bridger, Gallatin, Madison, Little Belt and Tobacco Root mountain ranges. This is Big Sky Country at its best.

Conservation is a priority at the MZ Bar and Milesnick has literally made it his business to preserve the integrity of the land, water, fisheries and wildlife under his protection. His efforts have earned him the Environmental Stewardship Award of The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Milesnick is innovating to insure that the resources of the ranch are well-managed and protected. A program of pasture management aims to have the cattle feed on the ranch’s limited space without overgrazing any particular section. The livestock graze one section of land for up to three days and are then moved to an adjacent section. This allows the land and forage to replenish while providing the cattle a supply of fresh feed. Newly constructed graveled crossing areas keep the cattle moving along the stream sides to protect the creek banks for the benefit of the trout, wild mammals and game birds. "Environmental stewardship,” says Milesnick, “is taking care of the land, water and air and managing to maintain permanent vegetation.”

His good deeds do not go without financial rewards. With trout and waterside wildlife thriving—owing to the short-term grazing program and creek bank improvements—Milesnick founded the Milesnick Recreation Company was founded in 1999. The enterprise makes the MZ Bar accessible to fly fisherman for a fee of $75 a day. Hundreds now pay to cast their lines here and admire the spectacular scenery; fees produce more then forty percent of the MZ Bar’s net income. The pursuit of profit however, doesn’t outweigh the Milesnick’s generosity and sense of community, as the family shares its resources with the many sportsmen permitted to fish the East Gallatin free of charge every year.

Milesnick has found a creative way to make conservation profitable at a time when many private property owners across the country are focusing on stewardship to protect their land for the long-term. In the past, large-scale land conservation in the U.S. was mostly about public–often federal–ownership: national parks, forests and wildlife refuges. But now and in the future, the greatest conservation advances will likely be on privately owned land. As Tom Milesnick tells it, "It's the wave of the present and the future". "We hope to stay in agriculture forever and we have no desire to sell our land."

Conserve Your Land
For landowners that want to follow in Milesnick’s footsteps or blaze their own conservation trail, the best place to stop and ask for direction is a local or federal conservation organization. These nonprofit resources will help you define your conservation plans, as well as provide technical and financial assistance. You can also read more about conservation methods on LandWatch’s conservation resources page.