Growth gobbling up fertile farmland

By KELLYN BROWN, Chronicle Staff Writer

Jim Paugh has lived and worked most of his life in what is now referred to as the "golden triangle."

The rolling hills surrounded by Bozeman, Belgrade and Four Corners encompass acres of wheat fields, cattle ranches and expensive, upscale homes.

As many as 5,000 additional homes are expected to be built there in the coming years -- enough to populate a small city with more residents than Livingston.

For many, the area represents the American dream, a chunk of Southwest Montana with a view of the mountains right out the back door.

But for farmers and ranchers like Paugh, it represents what the Gallatin Valley has become: crowded, unappreciative and a place where even the battle for water has become too much to bear.

"I couldn't stand to be here anymore," the 78-year-old Paugh quipped, sitting in his pickup near the home he grew up in and looking out at the high-end development that now surrounds it. "There's too many people and I'm so bitter about the water that I need to get out."

Across Love Lane, within eyeshot, is the land Paugh bought in 1948 while still a student at Montana State University. On it sits the home he built from scratch, where he's lived for more than a half a century.

But the houses are closing in.

Their land in the golden triangle has turned out to be a gold mine. Paugh bought his for $117 an acre. The demand for Montana living is so high he's selling it for almost $30,000 an acre.

"If people are willing to pay that kind of stupid money," Paugh said, "I'm willing to take it."

He acknowledged that the value of his property tempted him to sell, but added that other reasons, specifically water issues and the high cost of farming, tipped him in that direction.

Paugh's story is not uncommon.

The owners of the nearby Leachman Angus Ranch have agreed to sell 480 acres of their land so developers can build 375 single-family homes and an 18-hole golf course.

Jay Leachman told the Gallatin County Commission recently that ranching has been good to his family, but the costs of doing business have escalated while the price of cattle has dropped.

As people continue to flood to the Gallatin Valley, Paugh predicted, more farmers and ranchers will opt to sell.

Agriculture Census figures back that up. Between 1997 and 2002, Gallatin County lost almost 80,000 acres in farmland. That number has certainly increased since then.

But Paugh won't be around to see many more farms turn into developments. He's moving -- probably to the Lewistown area to continue working the land.

Farmers and ranchers being pinched out by developers is nothing new in Montana. But the pace at which it's happening here, in the state's fastest growing county, is.

County Commissioner John Vincent attributed it to a "tsunami of growth" in this area.

Since 2000, Gallatin County has added about 7,800 people, an 11.5 percent growth rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Last year the city of Bozeman issued a record 880 permits for new homes.

The city and county commissions have to fit new residents somewhere, and the thousands of acres of land between the valley's two largest cities, Bozeman and Belgrade, makes the most sense for growth, Vincent said.

But living here for 35 years, he acknowledged, "when we lose it, we do lose a little more of our heritage."

Also troublesome to Nancy K. Peterson, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture, is the fact that the Gallatin Valley has some of the most fertile farm ground in the state. And now it's being gobbled up by developers.

She said she can't blame the farmers and ranchers for selling -- not with the costs of operating necessities, such as fuel, skyrocketing while the price for commodities, such as wheat, remain stagnant.

"A number of producers I visited with are truly struggling in this area," Peterson said. "They want to maintain their way of life, but they're struggling to compete."

That competition isn't limited to dollars and cents. For Paugh, it also involves a struggle for water.

As more subdivisions pop up in his neighborhood, more water is being siphoned out of Middle Creek, Paugh said, drying out his irrigation ditch.

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has formed a committee to take a closer look at the issue, regional manager Scott Compton said.

"Farmers and ranchers have expressed concern for their water rights to the (Gallatin) River," he said. "It comes up with almost every proposed subdivision."

There's enough groundwater to sustain future growth, according to the DNRC, but it's unclear how much of an effect that growth will have on farmers who struggle to keep working the land in the Gallatin Valley.

"Water is a big issue," Peterson said. "And it will be even a bigger issue as time goes on."

It's hard to feel sorry for farmers and ranchers who make millions selling land in the Gallatin Valley. And Paugh doesn't want sympathy.

"Your life changes," Paugh said about his upcoming move. "You have to accept that."

But he emphasized that the sale wasn't just about turning a profit. To him, "money just isn't that important."

Gallatin isn't the only county facing obstacles in the ag industry and losing prime farmland. Flathead, Missoula and Yellowstone counties also have lost their fair share, Peterson said.

It's a trend many people saw coming, and few see slowing down.

"There's still opportunities in agriculture here," Peterson said. But many farms have to get bigger to stay in business, she added.

The ranches and wheat fields that occupy the rolling hills west of Bozeman are mostly small, family-owned operations. They're the ones leaving.

As the crops are replaced with homes in the area, Vincent said the county commission will work to set aside some open space in the area, to save some of its character

As Paugh's truck rumbled down a gravel road, Edgar, his border collie, sat in the back.

"I've enjoyed working this land," Paugh said, gesturing to his property. "I like the trees, the creeks, it's a very nice place."

But it's time to go.

And he's taking his cattle with him.

"I'll keep them to the bitter end."

Kellyn Brown is at kbrown@dailychronicle.com

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