Fountain City, Wis. - For generations, the Greshik family has held 400 acres of blufftop land that would make any developer drool with desire.

The property, which runs for about a mile along the blufftops north of Fountain City, boasts a view of idyllic wilderness on all sides.

Joan Greshik could have cashed in. Instead, she honored the wishes of her husband and father-in-law: She ensured the land would be preserved for generations by a conservation easement.

The project, announced this week by the Mississippi Valley Conservancy, is one of the most significant in the conservancy's 15-plus-year history, said Conservation Director George Howe.

The land will now have permanent restrictions on future development, among them bans on mining and limits on the amount and type of timber harvested. Even if the land changes hands, future owners must work with the conservancy on any development.

The conservancy will also help preserve the land's wildlife and vegetation, which Howe said includes many rare and in some cases formerly endangered species. One area of the plot, for instance, holds a nest of peregrine falcons.

The family still owns the property and can continue to use it, including the 60 acres they farm. The agreement also provides for construction of one house, as long as it isn't visible above blufftop trees.

Greshik's decision wasn't difficult, she said.

"It's not about money," she said. "It's about preservation of a piece of land that clearly needed someone to feel was important. To us, that was a priority."

And has been for years.

Greshik's father-in-law, Joe Greshik, farmed conservatively on the land when he took ownership in 1949. The Greshik family - including Joan's husband, also named Joe, who became a partner in 1967 - worked steadily to preserve the land, including building dams and berms for erosion control.

"It's very rare you see landowners who do that much," Howe said. "Every thing that could be done to save the soil, build the soil and protect wildlife had been done."

After his father died in 2007, Joan's husband Joe contacted the conservancy, and when Joe died in 2009, Joan continued the process.

"My husband would be very pleased," she said.

Now that a deal is in place, Greshik said the land will be the same a century from now.

And, if she has her way, Greshiks will still live on it.

"It's not for sale," she said. "It will never be for sale."