MISSOULA — The U.S. Forest Service has granted $9.5 million to protect wildlife habitat on private lands in northwestern Montana and northern Idaho.
The agency announced Thursday that the Stimson Forestland project will receive $6.5 million to protect 28,000 acres near Troy, Mont., through a conservation easement.
“This was all of the Stimson (Lumber Co.) ownership in that part of the Kootenai River and Lake Creek watersheds,” said Robert Rasmussen of Trust for Public Lands, which helped put together the project. “The land also provides buffers to public Forest Service and DNRC (Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation) lands. Some of these parcels were very developable, with good road networks and flat ground. Those are the same amenities that are also positive for forest management.”
The agency’s Forest Legacy Program works with private landowners, states and conservation groups to promote sustainable, working forests.
The Forest Service said the project holds some of the best wildlife habitat in Montana with eight species that are either federally listed for protection or are candidates for threatened or endangered species listing. The agency said the proposed conservation easement would prevent development while allowing timber harvest to sustain local wood-product jobs and providing permanent public access.
The Boundary Connections project in Idaho will receive $3 million to protect 1,700 acres of private timberlands that form a critical link for wildlife between the Selkirk, Purcell and Cabinet Mountains.
“It has the perfect storm of conservation values in the area,” said Idaho Department of Lands Forest Legacy manager Karen Sjoquist. “And that county has seen a lot of growth compared to the rest of Idaho.”
The Forest Service said the land includes habitat for five threatened and endangered species, and more than two dozen species designated as greatest conservation need and six rare plants.