Foys to Blacktail Conservation Project Awarded $2.9M in Forest Legacy Funding

Local land stewards have had a lot to celebrate this spring after completing an under-the-wire conservation deal to preserve outdoor recreation access on 1,131 acres of front-country timberland near Herron Park in the Flathead Valley, where raw parcels have faced intensifying development pressure. On May 14, the architects of the Foys to Blacktail Community Forest Project marked another red-letter day on their calendar when the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program awarded their project nearly $2.9 million in federal money.

“The project will effectively triple the size of adjacent Herron Park, protecting 3 miles of the Foys to Blacktail Trail and conserving vital working forestlands near Kalispell,” according to Thursday’s announcement by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). “As one of the fastest-growing areas in Montana, Kalispell and Flathead County benefit from this project’s proximity, ensuring accessible open space for residents.”

The Foys to Blacktail initiative was among 15 conservation projects spanning 11 states that the USFS selected for grantmaking, uncorking $80 million from its Forest Legacy Program, which the federal agency administers primarily using Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) money, which is funded through offshore oil royalties.

“These projects will permanently conserve more than 34,000 acres of private and economically important forested areas across the United States,” according to the statement.

Located five miles from Kalispell, the newly conserved Foys to Blacktail Community Forest lies directly south of Flathead County’s popular 440-acre Herron Park. Even though local organizations and agencies, including the Flathead Land Trust, Foys to Blacktail Trails, The Trust for Public Land and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), have been laying the groundwork to protect the property for years — and in 2025 received confirmation of the Forest Legacy Program award — uncertainty surrounding the timing and availability of the grant money meant that conservation was never a guaranteed outcome.

Until now.

Originally part of the wholesale purchase of Montana timberlands by Southern Pine Plantations (SPP), which in 2020 bought 691,000 acres from Weyerhaeuser before selling 475,000 acres to multiple landowners in 2021 and 2022, the Herron Park property could just as easily have become a developer’s dream rather than a conservationist’s. Instead, SPP owner Benjy Griffith donated the 1,131-acre property to the Griffith Family Foundation with the goal of permanent conservation.

As the need to purchase the land gained urgency, the pace of the grassroots campaign to raise the money to protect it accelerated at the local level. Rather than wait for the federal funds to materialize, 11 individual donors stepped in, working with the Whitefish Community Foundation to quickly aggregate funding and secure the property until the Forest Legacy Program grant money is finalized.

“We’ve been celebrating this project for a month now, in large part because we were able to buy and secure the property through generous donations and the use of recoverable funds from within our community,” said Paul Travis, executive director of the Flathead Land Trust, the nonprofit organization that purchased the property on April 9. “But this Forest Legacy grant money has been the lynchpin of this project all along. Rewind to last year, and we were not able to move forward on this time-sensitive acquisition because the status of the funding was unclear. But it’s clearer than ever now, so this is really the beginning.”

The forested property encompasses 12 miles of existing forest roads and trails, including 3.5 miles of existing ridgetop trail, a key segment of the Foys to Blacktail Trail. It links Herron Park to Blacktail Mountain via 13.5 miles of singletrack trail designated for nonmotorized use. With sweeping views of Smith Valley, the Flathead Valley and the Swan Range, the Foys to Blacktail Community Forest Project “will ensure permanent access for hikers, runners, mountain bikers, hunters, and equestrians of all abilities,” according to the press release.

Although the property’s initial acquisition has been funded entirely through private sources, FWP, which applied for the Forest Legacy Program grant in 2024, will now begin the process of public scoping to secure a permanent conservation easement over the next year.

Leah Breidinger, a habitat conservation specialist with FWP, said although the Foys to Blacktail Community Forest Project places a heavy emphasis on outdoor recreation, it also benefits wildlife habitat.

“What’s unique about this project is the level of community involvement,” Breidinger said Thursday. “To draw so much support from individuals, and to have the Flathead Land Trust come forward as the conservation buyer and hold the property until FWP could purchase the conservation easement, is pretty unusual. It definitely takes a lot of pressure off of us because we don’t have to worry about the landowner walking away.”

According to a USFS spokesperson, who responded by email to the Beacon’s questions about the funding delay, the agency publishes a list of proposed projects as part of the President’s budget.

“This indicates a level of due diligence and cooperation that warrants each project being sent to Congress,” according to the spokesperson. “It is not until an Appropriations bill is passed that a project is funded to move to completion. We appreciate the local and organization support that occurs with all Forest Legacy projects.”

Amy Lindholm, spokesperson for the LWCF Coalition, said Thursday’s announcement about the latest tranche of LWCF funding is testament to its broad, bipartisan support.

“By showcasing these success stories about the transformative impacts LWCF-funded projects have on local communities, we’re able to show members of Congress the outsized benefits of these investments, and that has built a tremendous amount of bipartisan support,” Lindoholm said. “The Montana delegation has been instrumental in keeping the money flowing. They’ve really been at the forefront of passing the Great American Outdoors Act and ensuring that LWCF is fully funded.”

Although LWCF can legally receive up to $900 million in appropriations, it had only received the full amount twice since Congress established the LWCF in 1964. That changed in 2020 with the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), which guaranteed $900 million per year in perpetuity.

“We’re also really inspired by the work of local land trusts and conservation partners,” Lindholm said. “It’s really amazing how they have been able to innovate and provide bridge funding or other creative solutions to hold projects together until federal funding can come through.”

Under the terms of the conservation easement, housing or commercial development will be prohibited and the property will secure perpetual public access for non-commercial outdoor recreation. The conservation easement supports sustainable forestry practices, protects aboriginal territory and natural heritage, counters wildfire risks in the wildland-urban interface, and bolsters the local economy through the wood products market.”

In a statement to the Beacon, U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., said the Foys to Blacktail Community Forest Project was an example of conservation easements serving as an effective community stewardship tool.

“Conservation easements are a great tool when used correctly and this is a perfect example. These funds will go to tripling the size of Herron Park in Kalispell, creating connectivity with the popular Foy’s to Blacktail Trail and keeping it accessible as the Flathead population grows. It will also support forestry in the area, limiting wildfire risk and supporting the local logging economies. It’s a win, win, win, and a great example of multi-use management of our public lands coming from the USDA.”

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