Trading away more than 2,000 acres of land for just 30 in return may not seem like a good deal, but BLM officials say a proposed swap will open prime riverfront property to hunters, fishermen, birders and other recreationists.

The agency wants to trade big parcels of public land located within the Eagle Creek Ranch, owned by the Neil McMurry family, for four small pieces of North Platte River frontage owned by the ranch in southern Natrona County.

There is a wide disparity in the size of the parcels being traded because riverfront property has a much higher value per acre, said Randy Sorenson with the BLM's Casper office.

The move is part of a decades-long effort to put riverfront in public hands, Sorenson said.

While the BLM owns millions of acres of rangeland, "The riverfront kind of a unique thing," he said. "There's limited acreage of those lands. Many of those riverfront acres are not accessible to the public. You need permission from the landowner to get on them."

The move would also allow the BLM to protect and preserve habitat and wetlands along the river, and protect the areas from residential development, according to BLM documents.

Donna McMurry, a partner in the Eagle Creek Ranch, said the ranch would use the 2,073 acres it would gain as grazing land.

"It'll make our operation run a lot smoother," she said. Currently the ranch operates under BLM rules that dictate, among other things, how long cattle can graze on certain areas of land.

"It'll be good for the public as well as for us," she said, noting that the ranch doesn't currently make use of the riverfront property. "It'll take those properties off our hands and will make them more accessible."

Two other land deals in recent years also have contributed to increased public access to the North Platte River frontage.

In 2003, the BLM bought 193 acres on the west side of the river between Casper and Alcova from the 760 Ranch LLC for about $870,000 with funds from the Land Water and Conservation Fund.

In December, landowner Cindy Rose donated a 159-acre easement to The Nature Conservancy, to link two larger easements in the Jackson Canyon area, a bald eagle habitat southwest of Casper.

Reach Barbara Nordby at (307) 266-0633 or at barbara.nordby@casperstartribune.net.