Laura Jean Kreissl-Montana

Ole and Ida Hagen, first-generation immigrants from Norway, were among the many settlers who moved out West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to farmland acquired through the Homestead Act. They maintained a strong connection to their 320 acres of rolling prairie near Plentywood, Montana.

Their granddaughter, Laura Jean Kreissl, inherited the land along with her siblings and cousins. As they decided what to do with it, she and her mother, Ruth—who was born on the family homestead in a sod shelter—were inspired by a series of novels they read together by Montana author Ivan Doig. In the trilogy’s final book, “Ride with Me,” a character travels to her family’s Montana homestead and decides to honor her grandparents by donating the land to a conservancy group rather than selling it to the highest bidder. Ruth, Laura Jean, and her siblings Jay and Terry decided to follow that fictional example by donating their portion of the land to American Farmland Trust, which will keep it in agricultural production for the future.

“The donation is not an end but the continuum of the circle of appreciation for the importance of that prairie land to our family,” she says. “As we become increasingly cognizant of the need to protect our fragile earth, we are grateful to be in a position to do this.”

A neighboring family that has worked the land for decades will continue to farm it. Top photo by Scott Bauer, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.