2016 CD Stewardship Award Winners Announced

Abigail Dennis

The Madisonian

editor@madisoniannews.com

Once a year, the Madison Valley Conservation District and the Ruby Valley Conservation District receive nominations for their stewardship awards. This year, the Madison Valley Conservation District selected John and Donna Crumley, McAllister ranchers, as awardees. In the Ruby Valley, Craig and Martha Woodson received the 2016 award. Read on to find out how the Crumleys and Woodsons have made a difference in conserving Madison County as stewards of the land.

Craig and Martha Woodson

Creating a symbiotic relationship between agriculture, recreation and wildlife

Craig and Martha Woodson discovered Southwest Montana because of fly fishing. As avid fishermen, they traveled to Twin Bridges to cast lines and hook fish.

“Craig was a big outdoorsman,” explained Martha. “We loved to fly fish so we kept coming up for several years before we bought the ranch.”

The piece of Ruby Valley property the Woodsons eventually purchased in 1992 is located along the Ruby River, just north of Laurin. When they bought the property, they were looking for a place to recreate in retirement for 10 years, then sell and move back to Texas.

Then the Ruby Valley worked its way into their hearts.

“Little did we know we would totally fall in love with the land,” Martha said.

Craig connected with Ruby Valley staple Les Gilman and the two started talking about natural resources, conservation and exploring how recreation, agriculture and wildlife can co-exist in harmony.

“As they owned the property and enjoyed it for 10 years, they became very interested in the complexity of natural resource management,” Les explained. “As the 10 years came up, their passion for the property and the Ruby Valley had become so important to them they weren’t able to walk away.”

Craig and Martha decided they wanted to see their mission carried on into the future, so they created the Ruby Habitat Foundation in 2002.

“The entire time they owned the property they gave a lot of thought to things they could do to fix or enhance the land, like streambank work and reseeding and replacing irrigation structures,” Gilman said. “But they also gave a lot of thought to the management practices they could incorporate that would have beneficial impacts.”

That forward-thinking approach to land management led the Woodsons down a path of “experimentation,” Martha said.

“We thought, ‘wouldn’t it be a good idea to learn more about what we could do for the valley by experimenting with agriculture and recreational practices?’,” Martha said. “Like demonstrating a 20 acre plot can support not just a home, but be a combination of a lovely home, farmed grains and animals.”

Craig, Martha and Les, with the help of many others, conducted many trials dealing with forage, grazing, irrigating and more.

“Not all of them worked!” Martha exclaimed. “We tried something with Indian rice grass that we were very excited about. We harvested it and I used it to make bread to give out for Christmas and apparently it was terrible!”

Though Craig passed away in 2011, the Ruby Habitat Foundation exists as his legacy – dedicated to preventing the degradation of natural resources. And every year, Martha returns to the Ruby Valley, which she says is “the most wonderful valley there is.”

“We only have so much land,” Martha said. “The resource can be very fragile. It is very important to preserve it for future generations. How we use it and what we do will effect not only our environment, but that of the wildlife and our neighbors and everything else.”

John and Donna Crumley

Showing how ranching and conservation go hand-in-hand

John Crumley’s parents moved to the Madison Valley from Idaho Falls when he was only two or three years old – 1948 or 49. John’s uncles owned a ranch up Meadow Creek north of Ennis and his family joined the operation, farming certified seed potatoes.

“They bought this ranch in 1959,” John said from his home along the north shore of Ennis Lake.

John graduated from Ennis Schools and taught for a few years after graduating college. His wife, Donna, was raised in Billings but attended school in Ennis her junior year, which is how the two met.

After 10 years living in Belgrade, the couple moved to the Madison Valley for good, purchasing a ranch next door to John’s parent’s place.

“The 10 years we lived in Belgrade we came here every weekend,” Donna said, explaining why they made the move. “I mean, every weekend.”

The couple raised three daughters on the ranch – Donna says ranching is a great way to raise a family.

“Ranching teaches them how to work,” she said.