A three-part film series telling the story of three Wyoming ranches involved in efforts to preserve the ranching lifestyle and explaining the value of migration corridors and conservation easements in the face of development pressure was viewed with great enthusiasm at the Hyart Theatre in Lovell on Monday evening.

The “My Wild Land” trio of short films was played at the Hyart, in part, because the third film features the EO Bischoff Ranch and ranch manager Tyrell Bischoff of Lovell.

“My Wild Land” films are part of the Wyoming Migration Initiative of the University of Wyoming, a project studying the migration patterns of Wyoming’s migratory ungulates — mule deer, elk, bison, moose, pronghorn, white-tailed deer and mountain goats. But the project, and the films in particular, also emphasizes the importance of conservation easements that not only allow for vital wildlife migration across Wyoming’s shrinking open spaces but also preserve the family ranching lifestyle that spans generations.

The films were sponsored by the Muley Fanatic Foundation with support from the outdoor equipment company Maven, and the local showing was the brainchild of Sherie Monk of Cowley working with Jennifer Triplett, Mark Bruscino, the Park County Land Trust, the Hyart Theatre and others, including an anonymous donor who paid for the theater rental, advertising and free popcorn to the first 250 attendees.

That figure was prophetic in that, according to the theater count, 248 people attended the film, which was pleasing to Monk.

“The community support, including the audience, Hyart staff and volunteers once again proves what an amazing area we live in,” she said. “The films were superbly done and very informative. Ranching is more than a way of life, it’s a generational investment. The preservation of land, livestock and wildlife in their trust.”

The series was introduced by local rancher Jared Boardman, who served as the master of ceremonies for the evening.

The first film entitled “The Place” featured the Hellyer family ranching operation of Fremont County near Lander. In the film, Jim Hellyer spoke about his family’s ranching lifestyle and their care for the land under their stewardship, noting, “We’re lucky to be here.” He called land conservation “a volunteer process” and noted the Oregon Springs riparian area where the family has built three-wire fence to replace the traditional five-wire fence so that deer can more easily migrate.

In the film, Central Wyoming College professor Todd Guenther talks about his hopes for a national historic landmark designation in the area, and Hellyer notes the pressure of housing projects that narrow the migration corridors. Looking at his land, he notes, “It looks awfully good this way. We’ll try to keep it this way.”

The second film entitled “Terry Creek Ranch” describes the conservation efforts of Al and Barb Johnson on their ranch bordering the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in the Lake Owen area between Centennial and Woods Landing in Albany County. The Johnsons describe the abundance of wildlife in the area with sometimes 30 to 50 elk approaching the ranch house.

The Johnsons talk about their ranch being surrounded by development, with Al stating, “I don’t have any control over that. What I do have control over is my land.”

Barb Johnson said the couple was trying to make it possible for the family to stay on the ranch as long as they could when they heard about a possible conservation easement through the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The easement process allowed the Johnsons to tailor the easement to what they wanted and manage the land for both livestock and wildlife. Through the easement, the Johnsons built miles of wildlife friendly fencing that allows free movement for the elk’s winter use of the ranchland.

“The protection goes far beyond my death,” Al states in the film, adding later, “It felt good to give something back.” 

The EO Bischoff Ranch was featured in the third film, with the film crew interviewing ranch manager Tyrell Bischoff at the ranch headquarters east of Lovell. The segment was filmed during the winter — calving season — so the Moss Ranch on the Bighorns was not shown, though there were plenty of aerial shots of the upper reaches of Devil’s Canyon.

In his segment, Bischoff notes the long days and hard work of ranching made even more challenging by the difficulty reaching the Moss Ranch and adjacent areas of the mountain where the family owns deeded land and Forest Service and BLM leases.

“The day-to-day operations wear on stuff,” he says in the film. “It’s hard to make a living in such rough country.”

 Bischoff tells how the family was facing bankruptcy about 10-12 years ago and had the ranch up for sale, noting that it was sad to think that the family could lose everything their ancestors worked for their whole lives.

Then ranch president Pam Kysar was able to negotiate a conservation easement through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which allowed the family to pay off the debt and get back on their feet, Bischoff said, noting, “If we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t own it anymore.” He said the easement “keeps the wild land wild” and prevents houses from “popping up everywhere.”

Like the Hellyers, the Bischoffs built miles of fence, in their case four-wire fence, that is much more wildlife friendly.

The film also touches on how the family worked with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to transplant bighorn sheep onto Little Mountain, with the herd thriving to the point that many sheep from the herd have since been transplanted to other areas.

Bischoff wraps up his segment by noting that ranchers take care of the wild lands, undertaking fencing and water projects and cleaning up after certain careless recreationists.

Family reaction

Tyrell Bischoff’s wife Charis, who has helped promote the film locally, said there were around 50 members of the Bischoff family present for the film showing Monday night including Tyrell, Charis and their two kids, Tyrell’s mother Maryanne, daughter Chelsea Martin, husband Lance and their three children and Tianna Bischoff and daughter, with husband Cade unable to attend while working in Texas.

Charis said the reaction to the film was positive, noting, “It sounded like everyone thought it was cool,” adding that several friends of Maryanne and the late Max Bischoff made the trip from Burlington to watch the films.

She added that she and Tyrell found the Hellyer and Terry Ranch films to be interesting as they described challenges the families faced and how the ranchers built new fence and did other things to promote conservation, such as converting five-wire fence into three-wire fence with a wooden pole across the top to allow deer to more easily see how high they need to jump to clear the fence and not become entangled.

Charis said she and Ty also found the discussion of available grants to help pay for fence projects interesting, noting, “I told Ty we should look into some grants.”

She said she wished the filmmakers could have filmed on the mountain, but the timing wasn’t right.

Asked about Tyrell’s reaction seeing himself on the big screen, Charis joked that he wouldn’t stop talking during the segment out of nervousness, noting that she had to tell him to “be quiet” so she could hear.

Value of conservation

Attendee Jeff Pearson of Lovell, who is active in local recreation and conservation efforts, said it is important for people to understand the value of conservation easements.

“They are very flexible,” Pearson said, noting that he has very good friends in the Dubois area who have a 220-acre property, essentially a small dude ranch. With land around them being subdivided and developed, the family’s property taxes soared, but they were able to obtain a conservation easement on their property.

Pearson said the flexible nature of the easement allowed the family to set aside 20 to 30 acres for future development while allowing the rest of the property to be protected. He added that different conservation groups sometimes combine their resources to make an easement happen.

“A lot of people think it’s the government taking control (of private land),” Pearson said, “but it really doesn’t have anything to do with government. It’s just a legal designation so it goes on as a ranch or whatever it was. It’s a way to keep pristine places pristine and not become all chopped up like has happened in Jackson Hole.”