“My Wild Land,” a three-part Wyoming-produced film series exploring issues of the rapid residential growth of western states and subsequent loss of wildlife habitat, is coming to Park County, sponsored by a new local conservation group.

The E.O. Bischoff Ranch, near Lovell, is one of three stories told of how sound conservation practices and agricultural success don’t have to be mutually exclusive efforts. The ranch is an extremely important habitat for bighorn sheep, elk, deer and sage grouse.

Produced by the Wyoming Migration Initiative at the University of Wyoming, the three individual films are beautifully photographed with poignant content on preserving the state’s ranching and farming heritage and the consequences to wildlife should they be lost.

“Migrations only persist because of working land,” said Emily Reed, associate research scientist and co-producer of the films.

Reed and Pat Rodgers spent the better part of a year finishing the project, spending several days on each ranch and endless hours in front of a computer editing the footage.

“The stories hadn’t been told before in this way,” she said.

They chose agricultural producers in three areas of the state, hoping to tell stories of conservation from “under-represented areas.” Despite the project being their first, the features show the beauty of the land while at the same time attacking the serious issues of the current economic climate and diminishing wildlife habitat. The films explore the ag producers’ bond with their land and often show the emotions of ranching; from the joy of sharing resources with wildlife and the fear and sadness it takes to manage the land in the current economic climate.

“The ranch community is definitely experiencing a decline,” said Ty Bischoff in the Bischoff Ranch segment. “It’s not really for the faint of heart I guess. You’ve gotta be able to doctor the calves and fix a lot of fence and long rides. It’s big country and one year can either make it or break it.”

After several generations in the family, the ranch was bankrupt and nearly sold until they were able to pledge the land as a conservation easement with the Natural Resource Conservation Service. Doing so allowed them to pay off their bills and continue to raise cattle while at the same time being a steward for crucial habitat.

The films also show the flexibility of conservation through the character-driven stories, and how each producer found business success while carefully considering the needs of wildlife species in decline.

“The work of ranchers to steward their lands and maintain connected habitats is critical for wildlife populations, and we wanted to help tell that story,” Reed said.

Each story is different, achieving conservation and success through a variety of methods.

“There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for conservation in Wyoming,” she said.

The special night at the downtown Cody Theatre beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 is being sponsored by Park County Open Lands, a new local conservation chapter with the mission of working with private landowners to help them utilize their property rights to protect the land from future development, and to keep it in agriculture, open space and wildlife habitat, said Jarren Kuipers, chair of the local council.

The group doesn’t stop at conserving land and protecting agricultural producers. They also seek to help protect communities that rely on the ag industry to survive.

“There’s a tipping point when you start to lose enough agriculture in an area, you start to lose all the support businesses at the same time. And that makes it harder for stores and shops and everything that depends on agriculture. So it’s keeping those supporting businesses around as well as the farms and ranches themselves,” he said.

The organization originally looked at starting their own community land trust. Then they were approached by the Jackson Hole Land Trust about combining efforts. The land trust has been gaining regional influence recently by branching out into other important areas such as Dubois and Pinedale.

Kuipers was concerned about being a part of the organization at first.

“Just having Jackson Hole in our name I’m sure will cause some people to raise their eyebrows a little bit. But it allowed us to not reconstruct an organization from scratch while also having local control over our focus and how we do work in the area. And it probably pushed us ahead 10 years in the complexity of our organization, while getting all the things that we really wanted, ultimately,” he said.

He hopes area landowners will appreciate their help in making sure the land doesn’t get broken up in the future, and remains in productive agriculture and wildlife habitat, without being pushy.

“There’s really an appetite for conservation, especially with the development that’s occurred recently,” he said.

Mark Bruscino, former Wyoming Game and Fish Department statewide supervisor of large carnivore management and member of the Open Lands advisory council, is worried about the development pressures on the Greater Yellowstone area.

“It’s unprecedented. And there’s incredibly valuable wildlife habitat on private lands, that performs really important functions as winter range and migration corridors,” he said.

In addition, Bruscino knows the importance of agricultural economy to the area’s complex rural economy that supports “a great way of life here,” he said.

“Those things, we feel, are worth conserving,” he said.

The organization has just hired a full-time director, who will be named at a later date, and is excited to get to work in the county. Park County Open Lands is paying admission for all interested in attending the event and is even providing free popcorn.