Protecting Montana's Open Landscapes
STEVE & GRETCHEN BURKE
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FOR STEVE BURKE, the skiing at Big Sky offered the bait, but the fly fishing set the hook.
Now he’s learning to be a rancher. In 2008, Burke and his family purchased the Valley Garden Ranch near Ennis, at the north end of Montana’s spectacular Madison Valley. He runs the place with twin goals: making it a working cattle operation and a top-notch recreational ranch.
“We believe those two goals are not mutually exclusive, but you’ve got to be thoughtful,” said Burke, a top executive in the communications and media business. The ranch stretches eastward and uphill from the braided channels of the Madison River, where it feeds Ennis Lake, to the foothills of the Tobacco Root Mountains. A number of springs and creeks succor the grassy benches and forested slopes, with the entire package gazing up at the outstanding and uncluttered views that make the Madison Valley a regular backdrop on television and movie screens.
“I think Valley Garden is one of the true gems in terms of a recreational ranch, because we have lots of water, lots of fishing, opportunity for lots of birds, and we have 300 elk that winter on our property,” Burke said. “As an outdoorsman, somebody who loves fishing and hunting, it’s pretty special. And all of that within four and a half miles of Ennis.”
A CATTLE RANCH SINCE stagecoaches stopped at the historic barn, the 10,000-acre Valley Garden, “needs a little tending,” Burke said.
“The entire ranch was managed to maximize cattle production,” Burke said. “The cows broke down the streambanks and ate a lot of the vegetation up in the draws.”
Today, ranch manager Bart Story manages the cattle intensively and moves them frequently. Crews have planted hundreds of shrubs and bushes to improve bird habitat and no cattle are allowed within 100 yards of the river channels. An old ditch system, designed to drain lowlands and create pasture along the river, has been reworked to restore natural functions.
“That raises the water table, which is really good for the river and a spring creek,” Burke said.
He and Story run about 400 mother cows and they plan to grow the herd to about 1,000 animals. Burke said he decided almost as soon as he bought the place to put it under a conservation easement, but waited a couple years before taking the leap.
“I thought it was smart to wait and see how we’re actually using the property before we made a permanent decision on what the easement would entail,” he said.
WORKING WITH The Montana Land Reliance on that easement was a “very natural process,” he said. “They made it as straightforward as could be. From beginning to end, we probably took 90 days. We were thoughtful about it, but they really helped us get through it. And we’re glad we did it.”
“Essentially, it’s going to look the way it looks right now forever,” Burke said. “I have five children. I love the idea that long after I’m gone, the place will still be there for my kids or grandkids or their grandkids.
Of all the things that I’ve been able to do in my life, being able to own that property and put it under conservation easement is one of the things that makes me proudest and happiest when I sit at my desk on the east coast.”
And when he’s in Montana?
“Typically I’ll ski one day and then I go down to the ranch,” he said. That’s where he finds the Madison River’s trout, plus the ranch chores he’s learning.
“I like to move cows when I get the chance and Bart lets me,” he said. “But I’m still a C+ horseman. I’m a better fly fisherman than I am a horseman.”
