More than 20,000 acres of northwest Montana forestland are now permanently protected. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the Stimson Lumber Company and Trust for Public Land announced the completion of a conservation easement on Thursday with parcels in Lincoln, Sanders and Mineral counties.
The largest piece helps fill in a gap in a string of easements, securing public access to the eastern edge of the Cabinet Mountains.
Under the easement, the land will remain a working forest in perpetuity. This prevents development while allowing for logging and forest management, guaranteeing public access for recreation and protecting key streams and habitats.
The project is the latest in an ever-growing patchwork of conservation easements in northwest Montana, including others from Stimson. Leaders and land managers say they are becoming an increasingly vital tool to protect both forests and those who rely on them, especially in the timber industry.
The project was partially funded through the Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program, which encourages the protection of privately-owned forests through easements and land purchases in collaboration with state agencies.
