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Idaho is a preferred destination for would-be ranch owners on the lookout for prime land - one of the best fly-fishing areas in the country, Ketchum and nearby Sun Valley are magnets for seekers of luxury ranches as well as potential donors to the highly successful Nature Conservancy. Ranch owners like John and Elizabeth Stevenson of Ketchum Idaho are among the country’s savvy ranchers who have discovered conservation easements as the way to reap significant tax and other benefits, and provide solutions to environmental concerns such as encroaching subdivisions and wildlife habitat destruction. By selling or donating all or part of their ranches to the Nature Conservancy, Idaho ranchers like the Stevensons of Silver Creek Valley can keep their pristine ranch land pristine in perpetuity. They donated 1300 acres of their 2000 acre Hillside Ranch to the Conservancy, obtaining a sizable tax break while ensuring that it will continue to be used for agricultural purposes; the easement is a stream corridor within wetlands, visited by elk, antelope and deer
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