Swan Valley residents receive 2022 Land Stewardship Award

SWAN VALLEY – On Aug. 19, the Missoula County Commissioners and Missoula County Parks, Trails and Open Lands honored Swan Valley residents Barb and Joe Raible as the recipients of the 2022 Land Stewardship Award and toured their property. The Land Stewardship Award recognizes Missoula County landowners and residents who prioritize stewardship of the land and undertake projects and practices that make a difference for land, water, forests, wildlife and communities.

The Raibles have owned the 120-acre property near Buck Creek in Condon since 1972. Prior to that, Barb's grandparents Matt and Anna Hill homesteaded the land in 1917. They left in 1990 to find work but still maintained the property.

Barb was an ecologist and forester for the BLM. While Joe's education was in computer science, he worked at a mill and helped build several log buildings including Lindey's Prime Steak House in Seeley Lake and Rustic's office and the Hungry Bear Steak House in Condon. While working for the BLM he worked on radios and computers.

They were also both wildland firefighters. Their skills were put to the test in 1988.

Joe said they used the dog-hair lodgepole stands on their property to build jack-leg fences for pastures. In the spring there would still be snow under the fence so it made a natural fireline for them to prescribe burn the pasture.

"Except for 1988 when Yellowstone burned," Joe said. "It was dry early. The fire had gotten into the sawdust and went under the snow. We had the first fire on the Flathead in April."

The Raibles saw the smoke column when they were returning home. They thought it was the Burlington Northern section that was adjacent to them but quickly found out it was theirs. They fought the wind-blown fire themselves that night until 12 a.m. The next day it was predicted to be 95 degrees and windy so they called for help to mop-up the five-acre fire.

"We've had that experience and we try not to have it happen again," Barb said and smiled. "We've done a lot of fire mitigation on the property to try and keep it safe."

They enjoyed spending their time at the property during their three-day weekends and would time their visits to align with the work that needed to get done or things like huckleberry season.

"Spraying weeds is a forever task," Barb said. "I've been doing that for many, many years."

Joe retired in 2009. He permanently moved to the property followed by Barb in 2010.

"At some point we decided we both like to work so we work a lot on the place," Barb said. "That is just what we do."

"If you are doing what you like, then it is not a chore," Joe added.

Barb said they have enjoyed seeing the changes on the landscape from their management practices, especially weed spraying, logging and fuels mitigation. They also enjoy the wildlife including bears and mountain lions that frequent their property.

"We have our little space and the [animals] have the rest of it," Barb said and laughed.

Helene Michael, a member of the Open Lands Citizen Advisory Committee, nominated the Raibles for the award.

"The Raibles have long endeavored to maintain the inherent values of their land - the diverse forest types, the fish and wildlife habitat and the wetland features - and to share their knowledge and commitment to the community," Michael wrote in her nomination letter.

Some of the Raibles' significant stewardship practices include:

• Preserving sensitive fen (wetland) areas, where rare native lady slipper orchids grow annually.

• Promoting stream and riparian health by maintaining forest health around the various water features

• Living off-grid by using solar power for electricity and an artesian well for water.

• Building a second cabin on the property using timber from the property that they milled with a portable five-horsepower ban sawmill. Joe learned how to build log cabins in the 1970s. He is currently building a sauna out of timber he harvest and milled from the property. Area log home builders have selected logs from their property for house logs.

• Ensuring future protection of the property by working with the Montana Land Reliance to enter a conservation easement in 2013. Raibles said this will ensure it is never subdivided, if it is ever sold.

• Actively managing their land through logging. They removed the bug-killed lodgepole in 2013 and two years ago removed the spruce that were blowing over in the high winds. They continue to plant trees and cleaning up the area while maintaining the larch and Douglas fir.

• Serving their community by volunteering with Swan Valley Connections, the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society and other local organizations

• Mentoring students during a homestay through the Swan Valley Connections' Landscape and Livelihoods Program

"The Missoula County Commissioners created the Land Stewardship Award in 2011 to recognize the positive impacts being made by private landowners through their land management practices, benefiting wildlife, rivers and streams and their community," Open Land Project Manager Kali Becher said. "The landowner recognition through this award also provides an important opportunity to share their stories and we're excited to share some to the ways the Raibles have been good stewards of their land."

The Raibles were honored to be recognized. Barb said they are in good company knowing their neighbors David and Kathryn Owen received the award in 2013 followed by Swan Valley resident Bud Moore in 2014.

Barb said David was a Forest Service District Ranger. They learned a lot from the Owens and she enjoyed discussing their philosophy on forest management.

"They were very knowledgeable and really wanting to train people," Barb said. "We learned some stuff from them ... about the way they [treated] their land."

Joe appreciated the recognition for their work on the riparian area on their land.

Barb's father logged the land in the 1960s. They still have ditches where they drug logs with the rubber skidded tires and they cut a lot of trees in the riparian area. They added a log corduroy bridge across one branch of the creek to drive across.

"We have three areas that were just saw dust and slab piles," Barb said. "Two of them are still good meadows, they are the ones kind of recovered but it has taken years for those to kind of go back into the soil and kind of be cleaned up."

"We are so wet. The whole valley has other areas like that. Hopefully, the word will spread out because we have restricted logging in [the riparian area]," Joe said. "We adhere to the buffer zone."

During the property tour with members of the Open Lands Committee and Missoula County staff Aug. 19, the Raibles showed the group the fen with the native lady slippers, an active bear bath and the cedar stand on their property.

Joe said the natural wetness of their land, coupled with cold air flowing out of the drainage in Buck Creek creates a favorable environment for the cedar to thrive.

"It was a big honor to get [the award]," Barb said. "It was nice Helene thought of us and it was nice to meet all the people on the Open Lands Committee."

Members of Missoula County's Open Lands Citizens Advisory Committee select the recipients of the Land Stewardship Award annually, with input from local resource experts with the Missoula Conservation District and Missoula County Weed District. All three 2022 nominees exemplified excellent stewardship work on their land throughout the County. Becher added all of this year's nominations were really impressive and unique.