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Newsletter from Montana
August 2005
Would you like to raise some cattle, a couple of horses and grow some hay? Just across the border, in Wyoming, I listed these 73 acres which are very productive with water rights for 63 acres ($ 19.50 per acre per year). The pastures and hayfields are in orchard and barley grass. The whole property is fenced and cross fenced. There are some year round springs and ponds that will not freeze in winter and provide all the stockwater needed. There is a pole barn with 5 stalls and a foaling box. They even have a good well, which surprised me, because the area is known for not having wells because of the water quality. There is even a place to stay until you get your house build; it is a nice manufactured home (it had cost $ 76,000 new). Only $ 225,000 There are NO restrictions on this property and it is NOT in a subdivision.
Frannie has a famous tack shop, which is just around the corner and you are only 70 miles from Billings, 47 miles from Red Lodge and 45 miles from Cody. You have close up views of the Pryors and the Big Horns and the whole length of the Beartooth-Absaroka-Meeteetse range can be seen to the west. What a beautiful spot! There is NO state income tax in Wyoming and there is no sales tax in Montana, Frannie is in Wyoming, just one mile from the Montana border....
Because the water rights in Wyoming are administered by the Bureau of Reclamation, I put a new link in the left margin of my Listings page for this interesting government department
The Bureau of Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States, with operations and facilities in the 17 Western States. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. The Great Plains Region is the largest and most ecologically diverse region of the Bureau of Reclamation, encompassing nine western states, and hundreds of irrigation projects, dams, and other water-related facilities. The Great Plains Region has its roots in three former Reclamation regions: the Upper Missouri Region headquartered in Billings, Montana; the Lower Missouri Region headquartered in Denver, Colorado; and the Southwest Region headquartered in Amarillo, Texas.
In October 1985 the Upper and Lower Missouri regions were merged into the Missouri Basin Region with headquarters in Billings. In 1988 much of the Southwest Region was joined into the Missouri Basin Region and became the Great Plains Region.
Reclamation's Great Plains Region includes all or parts of nine states extending from the Canadian border adjoining Montana and North Dakota to the southern tip of Texas.
This region manages over 150 major water storage and delivery structures associated with 80 reservoirs. Over 1,000 water service and repayment contracts are administered for the region's projects to provide water to irrigate over two million acres of farmland and to meet the daily needs of over two million people. The region's 21 powerplants generate over three billion kilowatt hours of electricity each year, enough to meet the power needs of about a quarter million homes. Recreation is also an important use of the region's reservoirs with over 14 million visits annually.
Some of Reclamation's earliest projects were built in Montana. Work began on the Lower Yellowstone Project in 1905 just three years after the agency was created. Today there are 13 projects east of the Continental Divide--the portion of the state managed by the GP Region. There are 11 dams and reservoirs, 9 diversion dams, 10 pumping plants and 2 powerplants which provide a variety of benefits and meet multiple needs. The Montana Area Office (MTAO) in Billings manages Reclamation's projects and programs in this part of the state and spends $7.5 million annually for operation and maintenance.
Most of the Montana development occurred under the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, including the large Yellowtail and Canyon Ferry units. Both provide considerable storage for irrigation and power generation and are popular recreation areas. Yellowtail and Canyon Ferry powerplants produce about 43 percent of the GP Region's annual power generation, resulting in about $15 million in revenue each year. The Montana projects provide water to 352,915 acres of land which produced $78.5 million worth of crops in 1990. Principal crops are sugar beets, hay, corn, wheat and barley. Over 1 million visitor days are spent at Reclamation facilities in Montana each year.
Three federal agencies, a Montana state agency and a national conservation group have formed a partnership to protect and enhance endangered pallid sturgeon populations in the Lower Yellowstone River at Intake Diversion Dam near Glendive, Montana. Construction of the Reclamation-owned dam began 100 years ago in July. It is a 12-foothigh rock-filled crib weir which diverts water from the Yellowstone River into a canal and lateral system that provides water to about 55,000 acres of cropland in three irrigation projects.
Reclamation; the Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks: and The Nature Conservancy signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Helena, Montana, on Friday July 8, 2005. The MOU calls for the five entities to work together to evaluate and then design and build modifications at the dam that would allow pallid sturgeon to pass upstream and which would reduce fish entrainment into the main canal.
Looks like our government stays busy :-)
Also, if you run into some land with CRP, this Conservation Reserve Program is a government project which was started to control the price of wheat. The farmer gets paid NOT to grow crops for a period of time, often 10 years. When it expires it sometimes can be renewed, not always. Farmers mostly put non-productive ground into this program, they still have to control the weeds on it though, but otherwise it is supposed to return to native grasses. Also farmers are insured by the government for their crops, it is called a wheat base. Often this insurance is lost after the ground has been put in CRP, another reason why a farmer wouldn't put high productive ground into this program.
If you have land now that pays CRP, there is a company that buys CRP for a one time cash out
Speaking of a one time cash out, somebody had asked if we would sell our FBO business (airplane maintenance) along with the hangar, we would. I haven't written up the details yet, but if you know of somebody who would like to run an FBO in Red Lodge, we would sell the business for $ 200,000
The hangar is for sale for $ 475,000
If you have a business or property you just cannot sell, you might think about having it auctioned off.
I spoke with an auctioneer, his father had founded the auctioneer company and now all three sons are scattered around the country being auctioneers in different states. They are one of the best in the country. You might want to get in touch with them, the one brother I met is
Harold Musser, a VERY likable guy! 307/587 2131
http://mbauction.com/home.asp
Harold and his sister are now taking care of their dad, who grew up around Sheep Mountain Ranch, actually he was the son of the original homesteaders there. When they homesteaded the place, they at first lived in a cave in the embankment before they built the homestead there. The original home is still standing, vastly remodeled, though. Harold and I took him out there a couple of times and the old timer recollected how he used to ride to school every day with his favorite horse.
How about Cork or Bamboo tiles for your new floor? A few of you have asked me about building materials and supplies that are "green"--also known as environment-friendly or eco-friendly. I just learned of a source that's new to our area and conveniently close: Refuge Sustainable Building Center, located in downtown Bozeman. Co-owners Steve Bruner and Dave Schaub bring knowledge of the building trades and environmentally sound building practices to their business. (Better yet, eco-friendly usually means cost savings over time.) If you're interested, take a look at their lineup of materials and supplies at
http://www.refugebuilding.com/.
I just can't get over it, that you would find the whole alphabet on the wings of butterflies
Not only that, but mother nature is making faces at you
Anna Coulter's business has picked up since I put a link to her website on my Listings page. She thanked me by sending me some beautiful butterfly pictures she had painted. I had them framed and they now grace my home. The Internet pages do not do these paintings any justice; the originals are vibrant with colors and do a lot to brighten your spirits.
It's ALWAYS sunny if you fly high enough!
:-)
Best Regards,
Dorothea Lowe, Broker
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