Meetings to discuss conservation easements in Northwest Montana

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and private landowners whose land is under conservation easement in Northwest Montana are hosting public meetings. 

These meetings encompass lands under the following easements: Lazy Creek, Lost Trail, Kootenai Valleys, Kootenai Forestlands, Swan Valley, and Thompson-Fisher. Altogether, the combined easement acreage encompasses approximately 226,300 acres. 

Meetings will only focus on existing conservation easements and not proposed easements, such as the Montana Great Outdoors project. 

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits the uses of the land to protect its conservation values. FWP holds conservation easements to protect vital fish and wildlife habitat, retain working lands, and maintain recreational access opportunities for the public. Lands under easement remain in private ownership and management, and landowners continue to pay property taxes. 

The upcoming meetings are required annually by the conservation easement agreements and provide a forum for discussion of any issues related to public use, land use, access issues, conditions, or other unanticipated issues involving conservation easement lands.

Nov. 5 - FWP Region 1 Headquarters, 490 North Meridian Road, Kalispell - Swan Valley conservation easement north of Condon (16,500 acres) and Lazy Creek conservation easement northwest of Whitefish (10,200 acres), 9-10 a.m. 

Nov. 6 - Ponderosa Room at Libby City Hall, 952 E. Spruce Street - Kootenai Valleys (28,000 acres) and Kootenai Forestlands (22,300 acres) conservation easements near Libby and Troy, 11 a.m. – noon; Thompson-Fisher River conservation easement (142,000 acres) west of Kalispell, noon-1 p.m.; Lost Trail Conservation Easement (7,300 acres), 1-2 p.m.

Meetings for the Haskill and Trumbull Creek conservation easements with F. H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Company will be held later this winter, and times and locations will be announced at a later date.