Bar Triangle Ranch

Historic Bar Triangle Ranch

Williamson Valley, Arizona, landowners Mike Pierce and Pam Powers have taken the first step in protecting their 5,600-acre ranch. A conservation agreement on 648 acres of the ranch has been finalized, it was announced today by the Central Arizona Land Trust (CALT).

“The Bar Triangle Ranch is our home, and we desire nothing more than to see all of it remain as it is today, with wide-open spaces for future generations,” said Mike Pierce. “We feel privileged to work with Central Arizona Land Trust, which has just brought together the first of several transactions that will result in permanent protection of our entire ranch.”

Partnership: The Bar Triangle Ranch will continue operating as a working ranch, with CALT holding the conservation easement with the responsibility of overseeing its terms, in perpetuity.

Stewardship: Annual monitoring by CALT, in partnership with the landowners, will occur to assure conservation values remain protected and the land is never subdivided or developed beyond what has been negotiated in the Deed of Conservation Easement. The required stewardship endowment has been funded by the landowners.

Funding: US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Agricultural Conservation Easement Program/Agricultural Land Easement has funded the transaction. The landowners have donated a portion of the value of the appraised conservation easement.

History: William J. Simmons first homesteaded the area in 1864, the same year the town of Prescott, Arizona, was founded. Simmons also established a stage station on Williamson Valley Road close to the Camp Wood Road turnoff, and later, a post office was built at the stage station. The remains of the Simmons homestead remain on the ranch today. Delbert Pierce, father of Mike and Steve Pierce, bought the ranch as part of the Las Vegas Ranch in 1959.

Conservation Values: Located seventeen miles northwest of Prescott, at an elevation of 4600 to 5100 feet, the ranch sits at the very heart of Williamson Valley, in a sub-irrigated bottom with shallow and artesian wells. Water and grass are abundant and support irrigated fields, perennial riparian areas, and open range land. The ranch is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including pronghorn, deer, coyote, javelina, raptors, and a variety of amphibians, rodents, mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects. The Conservation Values protected here are the working ranch, wildlife habitat, open space, and scenic values.