KALISPELL — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) is asking people to weigh in on a potential project that would place nearly 33,000 acres of private timberland in Northwest Montana under a conservation easement and protect working lands, public recreation access, and wildlife habitat.
FWP has published a draft environmental assessment that outlines the proposed first phase of the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement project.
This is the first of a potential two-phased project totaling 85,792 acres of private timberland and fish and wildlife habitat owned by Green Diamond Resource Company, according to a news release.
The first phase includes forestlands in the Salish and Cabinet Mountains between Kalispell and Libby.
According to FWP, the private property "provides abundant public hunting and angling opportunities that would be permanently secured under this proposal."
FWP notes the project would conserve wildlife winter range and a movement corridor for elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and moose.
It would provide critical habitat for grizzly bear and Canada lynx, federally threatened species found on the property, and protect streams for the westslope cutthroat trout and Columbia River redband trout, both Montana Species of Concern.
Green Diamond would maintain ownership of the land under an easement owned by FWP. The easement would allow Green Diamond to sustainably harvest wood products from these timberlands, preclude development, protect important wildlife habitat and associated key landscape connectivity, and provide permanent free public access to the easement lands.
The U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program, the Habitat Montana program, and funds raised by the Trust for Public Land would be funding sources if the proposal moves forward.
Green Diamond would provide an in-kind contribution in the form of donated land value arising from the sale of the easement.
FWP notes in the release that the property has historically been owned by mining and timber companies and private landowners that have allowed the public to access the property through short-term Block Management agreements or voluntary open land policies.
The deadline to comment on the proposal is May 15, 2024. To comment and learn more, visit https://fwp.mt.gov/news/public-notices to learn more information and comment on the proposal.
FWP will review comments and forward a recommendation to the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission this summer.
If approved, the project would go before the Montana Land Board for final review.
