In November, Marvin and Sheila Schmidt completed the donation of a conservation easement to the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust. The easement now protects 240 acres of irrigated farmland near Ocean Lake in Fremont County. The property has been in the Schmidt family for three generations, since it was homesteaded in 1936 by Marvin’s grandfather, Henry. Although most ranches have some farm ground, the Schmidt farm easement is the first one held by the Land Trust that is strictly a farm.
“We’re farmers at heart,” said Marvin. “We want to pass this property along to others as
farmland, and we felt this was the first step in making sure it stays open. Conservation
easements are an individual decision, but I know it was the right thing to do, and I encourage others to look into the possibility.”
As farmland, the property has been used to raise hay as the main crop, rotated with beans, sugar beets, corn, and sometimes sunflowers. Hay grown on the farm is used as winter feed for lambs. Ducks and geese from Ocean Lake Wildlife Habitat Management Area use the farmland during the winter months.
“I met Marvin several years ago, when I still lived in Fremont County,” said Pamela Dewell, Executive Director of the Land Trust. “At the time, he had many questions about conservation easements and since then has given a lot of thought to his decision to donate an easement on his farm ground near Ocean Lake. In addition to ensuring this ag land will be available to future producers, the Schmidt Farm will continue to buffer the WY Game and Fish Department’s Habitat Management Area from the residential subdivision cropping up around the lake.”
The Schmidt Farm is located adjacent to the Ocean Lake Wildlife Habitat Management Area, a 12,725 acre recreational hunting area managed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department primarily for waterfowl production. The conservation easement will help ensure that the farm remains in agricultural production, and the habitat value contributed by the farm production will remain undisturbed.